Evasion
by Deliciously Weird
Summary: Chloe/Sam - Book 2 'At Home in Your Heart'  Description: Truly alone for the first time in her life, Chloe tries to cope while being hunted.
1. Chapter 1

**Evasion – 1/?**

By Deliciously Weird

Pairing: Chloe/Sam

Characters: Chloe Sullivan, Clark Kent

Rating: This is an adult fiction, it is not appropriate for children of any age. (Adult Language, Violence and Sexual situations)

Series: At Home in Your Heart – Book 2 (Prequel Ineffable)

Description: Truly alone for the first time in her life, Chloe tries to cope while being hunted.

Warnings: Spoilers for up to season 8 Smallville and up to season 3 supernatural. This is AU but prior character history is mostly canon. I do not have a beta, so all mistakes are my own.

Disclaimer: All recognized characters from Supernatural are property of Eric  
Kripke/CW. All characters, references, and other things pertaining to Smallville are property of the WB, DC Comics, Tollin-Robins, Al Gough & Miles Millar, and J. Siegal & J. Shuster. I make no money for my labors, only friends.

Chloe picked up her laptop and purse and slung them over her shoulder. She was going to be late for the group session if she didn't hurry. Things had been going well the last few months and she kept hoping that if she was just patient a while longer that Chris would open up to her. She knew something bad had happened to him. She suspected that his parents had an undesirable reaction when his powers emerged.

Chloe was pretty sure Chris was living on the streets. Whenever he came for meetings he would eat a lot of whatever treat Angela brought. Lately Chloe and noticed Angela passing him brown paper bags at the beginning of every meeting. She figured that Angela had noticed something wrong too. It wasn't even that he was her only homeless kid. There was just an air about him that made her feel something was about to go majorly bad.

Chloe locked her door and started down the stairs to the Talon…

The whole world spun around her in a vicious dizzying whirl. Chloe felt like the earth had fallen out from in under her and she was lost and disoriented trying desperately to get upright.

"Chloe stop struggling." Clark said as he set her down in the middle of a field.

Chloe bent over retching for a moment while Clark held her up. Once she was fairly certain she wasn't going to vomit she glared at Clark.

"What the Hell Clark!" she asked him indignantly. Chloe didn't like traveling at super speed when she had advanced warning and could bury her head in his chest. Without any warning it had been like being caught in the worlds worst undertow.

"Chloe listen, you are in trouble" Clark said.

"What?" Chloe said immediately serious.

"I was in town and I saw a bunch of people in dark suits. I didn't know who they were so I followed them" he said.

Understandable Chloe thought, dark suits were rarely good news in Smallville.

"and?"

"They were DDS agents Chloe. I listened in and heard them talking. They were about to rush the Talon and take you into custody" Clark explained.

"Custody? What for Clark? What does the Department of Domestic Security want with me?" Chloe asked.

Clark looked at her with his big sad puppy eyes and said "Hacking government databases, Conspiracy, and Treason."

"Oh my god, I am so screwed. If they have even a tenth of what I have been up to this month alone, I will be in prison for the rest of my life" Chloe closed her eyes in shock and felt Clark pull her into a hug. Oh god Clark, what do I do"?

"I don't know Chloe. Lex can't be trusted to help. Maybe we could call Oliver" Clark suggested.

"No we can't do that. If they connect me to the Justice League it could take the whole group down" Chloe said firmly. "Don't tell Oliver about this Clark. Tell him that I" Chloe paused trying to think of a good excuse. She needed something that would be believable. Something that would be big enough for her to leave her world behind but not something she needed rescuing from.

"Tell him that I told you I wanted a new life. I was tired of being constantly in danger. Tell him I said I wanted nothing to do with heroes ever again and that I told you to leave me alone. I never wanted to speak to any of you again. Then tell him I said I was going to stay with friends".

With tears falling sliding down her face she said hoarsely. "Tell him that what Braniac did to Lana freaked me out so bad I changed drastically. That I blamed you specifically and heroes in general for everything".

"Chloe there has got to be something we can do" Clark said. "I can't loose you too".

"Find the keys Clark. Do whatever you have to but find the keys!" Chloe begged him. "You can't let Lex get the device".

"I will Chloe" Clark promised.

"I need to go away. If the agents aren't in my apartment grab my leather overnight bag and pack some clothes for me. Tooth brush, hair brush, shampoo, whatever you think is important. If you see anything that links me to the JL burn it. Don't take it back to the farm, once I am gone they will likely keep you under surveillance if they really think I am a threat. Try to keep your contact with the JL minimal as well for a while. Maybe pass messages to Oliver through your mom. If you can't get into my apartment pack me some of Lana's things. They will fit well enough and I know she wouldn't mind".

"Okay I can do all that, but where will you go?" Clark asked.

"I am not sure yet" she answered truthfully. "I might be able to stay with Pete for a few days. He isn't a connection they would check right away. He hasn't lived here in years and I only talk to him every couple of months."

"Pete will help you as much as he can Chloe" Clark said.

"Get me all the cash you and Lana have on hand. It will be best if I don't use my credit cards again for a while. Here is my ATM card the pass is 74866, withdraw the maximum amount. I'll write you a check for the cash you give me, don't say no I know the farm barely makes it. Oh and grab my tazer".

Clark disappeared in a gust of wind. Chloe staggered over to a tree at the edge of field and lean against it in shock. Oh god. Just like that her life was gone. Her home, friends, and her family were no longer safe. She needed to start thinking. She couldn't go to Sam. They spent way to much time on the phone talking and texting each other. Speaking of which, the DDS could track her by her cell phone. Dammit dammit. GPS chip. Think Chloe Think. Chloe turned her phone off with shaking hands.

Chloe forced herself to calm down taking deep breaths. She could do this. She just needed to plan. She knew better than most people how to track someone. She just needed to make sure she didn't do anything stupid. She had a fake ID in the ISIS safe. She would have Clark get that for her too. She couldn't use it too liberally, Victor knew about the ID. He had helped her set it up. Hiding from the DDS was one thing. Hiding from Victor was a whole different problem.

Clark appeared in a gust of wind with a couple bags.

"I got everything you asked for and a bit more here. I ran to DC and got the cash mom had too. She started to give me her pearls for you to pawn and that made me think. Clark held up a small bag. I made you some diamonds. If things get desperate I thought you could sell them or pawn them. I told mom the truth. If things get really bad you know you can go to her" Clark said.

"They may be watching her too Clark. I have to stay under the radar for a while. Okay can we relocate now? It doesn't have to be far, but I forgot to turn off my cell phone and they can track you with that" Chloe explained.

Clark picked her up waited for her to hide her eyes and the whooshed away. Clark set her down by a stream.

"I need one last thing Clark. I have a set of fake IDs in the safe at ISIS. While you are there pull the CPUs and put them somewhere. Take them to Victor later and tell him that JL information is on them. Not a lot, but he should clean them for you" Chloe said. "Tell Victor I said "Geronimo - closed shut – hidden" so he knows I really mean I don't want him looking for me. Tape a note to the door saying group session is canceled. Better yet make that the office period is closed until further notice. If Angela wants to run the group sessions let her".

Clark took her hands in his. "Chloe you're shaking." Clark hugged her and Chloe lost it. She sobbed while Clark held her close. He patted her back and told her it would be okay. They would think of something. Chloe allowed herself to accept his comfort for a few minutes, clinging to his strength.

Chloe pulled back and wiped her eyes. "No time for that right now. I can cry later".

"When you go to ISIS take my cell phone with you. I want you to turn it on and send this text message to Sam. '911 – Desist all contact with me and everyone you know though me period. Do not contact again until contacted by me. You will put me and everyone else in danger if you do. Do not accept contact from anyone else. I am safe. I love you. Bye.' Then write down all my contacts information for me. Once you have done that destroy the Sim card, burn it. Turn the phone off and leave it somewhere. I am so glad you have an eidetic memory".

"You're in love with him?" Clark asked.

"Yes" Chloe said voice breaking a little.

"I didn't realize you guys were so close Chloe. I knew you two were interested. There was a lot of chemistry between you. I just didn't realize you were in love. Can you go to him?" Clark asked.

"Maybe eventually, I don't want to put them at risk right away. Maybe I can go to him in a couple months or half a year if things look calm on their end. Maybe the DDS will no longer be looking for me so hard" Chloe said. "Even with what I said, there is a chance that Sam will come looking for you. Head him off if you can. I am going to contact him through an alternate method in a few days. Hopefully Dean can keep him calm until then. I just can't send him a message telling him I am going to contact him. The DDS will be tracking my texts".

"That's why it is important that they don't contact anyone. If they can separate themselves from anyone in my life, then it may be safe to go to them. I really hope I can do that. Then I won't have to be alone".

"What am I going to tell Lois?" Clark asked.

"You are going to have to tell her the truth. In the short term tell her I found a hot story and am pursuing it. She won't doubt that even though I am no longer with the Daily Planet. I never could let a story go. Get her somewhere that you can't be overheard and tell her the truth. It's the only thing that will stop her from looking for me. If she looks for me she may just lead the DDS right to me" Chloe said. "She knows me as well or better than you do. Sorry to stick you with that job. She is not going to be pleasant to deal with".

"I can handle it Chloe. I am glad you are telling her the truth. You are right she wouldn't let it go otherwise" Clark said.

"Let Lois decide what she wants to tell my dad" Chloe said.

"If things go badly between you and the JL over this, eventually I want you to tell them the truth. In a couple of years it should be safe to tell them. By then I will have a new life. Remind them of that and make sure they let it go" Chloe suggested.

"Alright you better go before the DDS raids ISIS" Chloe said.

Clark was gone in a whoosh.

Chloe looked through the bags Clark had packed for her. He had gotten most of the things that she would have. It should be enough to start a new life. Heck it was more than Sam carried around with him. Well if you didn't include the arsenal in the trunk that is.

Clark had also grabbed her Q3. Chloe smiled as she pulled it out. Well all things being equal maybe she could hook up with a hunter in the short term. Actually that wasn't a horrible idea. If she could hook on to someone as their research partner it could be good. She would be moving around constantly. It was something to think about at least.

Clark came back with a whoosh. He handed her the IDs.

"I sent your message and hid the CPUs. There are in the attic of the public library. No one goes up there so they should be safe for a few days" Clark said.

"Chloe handed Clark her keys. If you move my car somewhere they will think I have taken it and look for me close to Kansas. That will give me a couple days grace. I will be safely with Pete in Virginia" Chloe said.

"I had an idea Chloe. Can you ride a motorcycle?" Clark asked.

"Well I never have, but I am sure I could figure it out" Chloe said.

"I still have dad's old bike in the barn. It was totally overhauled about 4 years ago and has been barely ridden since dad passed away. I don't even have it licensed anymore. I want you to take it. It's not too heavy so I will be able to bring it to you by tonight. Dad loved you like a daughter. I am sure he would be happy to know it was keeping you safe" Clark said.

"I would be honored Clark. To have your dad's bike would mean a lot to me. It would help me feel closer to you and your dad. Better grab me your mom's leather jacket then if I am going to be riding" Chloe said. "Give my car to Lois or sell it once I have been gone a year. There is no reason to keep it parked somewhere. The government may impound it if they find it. If they do, just let it go".

"Are you ready to go Chloe?" Clark asked.

"Almost" she said then threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "I love you Clark Kent, you are the best friend I ever could have had. I will miss you so much!"

"I will miss you Chloe. We have been friends so long I am not sure what I am going to do without you" Clark said.

Clark picked up her bags and put them over his shoulders. He handed her the laptop bag to keep safe and then picked her up. "This is going to be a longer run Chloe. Just keep your head down".

Whoosh!


	2. Chapter 2

**Evasion – 2/?**

By Deliciously Weird

Pairing: Chloe/Sam

Characters: Chloe Sullivan, Sam Winchester, OFC

Rating: This is an adult fiction, it is not appropriate for children of any age. (Adult Language, Violence and Sexual situations)

Series: At Home in Your Heart – Book 2 (Book 1 - Ineffable)

Description: Truly alone for the first time in her life, Chloe tries to cope while being hunted.

Warnings: Spoilers for up to season 8 Smallville and up to season 3 supernatural. This is AU but prior character history is mostly canon. I do not have a beta, so all mistakes are my own.

Disclaimer: All recognized characters from Supernatural are property of Eric  
Kripke/CW. All characters, references, and other things pertaining to Smallville are property of the WB, DC Comics, Tollin-Robins, Al Gough & Miles Millar, and J. Siegal & J. Shuster. I make no money for my labors, only friends.

Chloe pulled over and parked her bike in front of a diner. She was somewhere in North Carolina now. She hadn't felt up to the challenge of riding in the mountains yet, so that really only left her one direction to go, south into NC. There was an old battered payphone out front. She would call after she had eaten. Chloe made sure her saddlebags were locked up before heading inside. She was grateful for the bike that Clark had given her. She would be stuck in one place without it and vulnerable. When you were on the run, being mobile meant being invisible.

Chloe had only spent three days with Pete. But those three days had been invaluable. Pete had been incredible. He took her out and taught her how to ride the bike. He had been riding dirt bikes since he was a little kid and he had been an excellent teacher. He took her bike one day 'for a tune up' and returned her with new lockable saddlebags and a windshield thing with a radio and locking glove box. It even had a jack for her iPod and a place to plug in a cell phone charger. Chloe was very relieved. With the upgrades she had room for all the gear Clark had packed for her. Her laptop even fit into the saddlebags so she would be able to lock it up.

He also got her another helmet with a shield to cover her face. He said driving long distances it would be a lot more comfortable. He told her to keep the smaller one that came with the bike for around town when she didn't need a face shield or when she had a passenger. He withdrew most of the money in his savings account and gave it to her. The bike was quieter as well. Chloe stared at him in disbelief when he told her, but apparently you had to tune the bike to make it that noisy on purpose. Chloe had voted hands down for a quiet ride even if it did make her less visible on the road.

Chloe gave Pete several of the larger diamonds that Clark had made for her to repay him. It was the best way to pay him back without drawing attention to her last connection to her old life.

It hadn't been as hard to say goodbye to Pete as it had been with Clark, but it still made her sad. He was her last link to her old life. He couldn't have treated her any better if they were still best friends hanging out every day.

Once she hit the road she had stopped several towns down the highway to get her hair cut. She had her shoulder length hair chopped off. Chloe felt bald with her new pixie cut, she never wore it this short before. Once she dyed it brown she would be a lot less recognizable. He natural hair color was brown so she wouldn't even have to keep dying it. She had been a blonde so long she doubted anyone but Lois knew her natural hair color.

If Chloe watched what she was spending and picked up the odd job now and then she could make it months before she really needed to worry about money. She wouldn't be able to stay at hotels every night but it was spring and she had a blanket, so sleeping outdoors when it wasn't raining was probably her best option.

Chloe sat down and ordered the special. She planned to try not to eat out more than once a day. She could get fruit, granola bars and other non perishables to carry with her. Chloe was very nervous about the phone call she was going to make. Would he have called back, was he angry with her? Would it be better to cut off all communication?

The day after she had so precipitously been tossed out of her own life by fortune, Chloe had made what she hoped was a very unpredictable phone call from a payphone in town.

_"This is Echo"._

_"Echo this is Chloe, you did a tattoo set of tattoos for me, my boyfriend, his brother and my cousin. Do you remember me?"_

_"Of course I remember you" She replied. "Did you want to get more work done? I have a whole set of protection tats recommended for your group now"._

_"No thank you, but if I get back into town I may want to. I wanted to ask you a favor. Do you still have the contact information for my boyfriend" Chloe asked?_

_"I sure do"._

_"Listen, I don't dare contact him directly, but I don't think anyone would make the connection between the three of us. I was hoping that you would call him and pass a message for me"._

_"Are you in trouble sugar"?_

_Chloe decided that honestly was the best policy in this case. "Yes, yes I am. I need to be invisible for a while, but I know he will be very worried about me. I am not a bad person Echo; I just got caught up in stuff that got out of control"._

_"I know you aren't sugar. I am very good at reading people and there is nothing evil in your nature. What do you want me to tell him" Echo asked?_

_"Tell him that he should dump his cell phone and get a new one. Get a prepaid cell or one under a new name. His brother probably should to get a new phone as well. I have talked to both of them by phone. He needs to cut off all ties to the people he knows from my life. I can't take the chance that the people after me will take notice of them. Have him call you back and give you his new cell number. I will call you in a couple days to get it. Let him know that I am safe as I can be. I am staying with an old friend"._

_"Alright sugar. We probably shouldn't use your name again. If you call again have them tell me Sage is calling"._

_"That's lovely Echo, I like the name. Thank you for helping me. I couldn't think of another person I trusted to call who wouldn't be known as an acquaintance"_

_"You just be careful and take care of yourself Sage. I will be waiting for your call"._

The waitress came back interrupting her thoughts. "Here you go hon. Enjoy your meal".

Chloe ate slowly, there was no reason to hurry she really didn't have anywhere to go. It was her first night on the road and admittedly she was a bit jumpy. Her only goal at this point was to get away from Virginia and stay out of Kansas.

Once she had finished her meal she got change from her waitress and headed out to the payphone. Pulling a pad of paper and pencil out of her purse she took a deep breath and dial Echo's phone. Chloe got her voicemail so she called the store line.

"North Star Tattoo can I help you?" Chloe thought that was Ed on the phone.

"This is Sage, can I speak with Echo please" Chloe asked.

"I'll let her know you are holding".

Chloe plugged in another quarter as she listened to some 80s rock ballad.

"This is Echo"

"Echo, it's Sage".

"Girl, your Boyfriend is one Pissed Off Dude. He has called me four times already to see if I have heard from you. That guy is crazy in love with you. I had to get his brother on the phone to actually get your message across. I told him from now on I'll only speak to the brother."

"I am sorry to put you in the middle Echo. Did he give you a new number"?

"Yes, he did. His brother said to tell you to call him right away before he has to knock his whiney ass out" Echo chuckled. She gave Chloe two phone numbers. "He said to tell you not to worry; they are in a different state now".

"Thank you Echo, I will call them. If he calls back tell him I got the message and I will call them as soon as I pick up a new cell phone" Chloe said.

"Listen Sugar, I am with a client so I have to run. Just tell me, are you okay? Are you safe"?

"I am healthy, safe, fed and have a tazer in my pocket".

Echo laughed. "That's good to know. You take care now and call me once a month to let me know you are okay".

"Will do bye Echo"

"Goodbye Sage".

Chloe jumped back on her bike and headed down the road. She needed to get to a city to pick up a pre-paid cell phone. They had them in gas stations in big cities. She could probably get one at any of the big discount stores too. Chloe was dying to talk to Sam but at the same time she was nervous. She knew Sam was going to demand that she come to him and she just couldn't afford to do that yet. It was going to be a long and painful conversation.

Goodness knows what she wanted more than anything, was to be with him. She had acted all calm and put together when she was with Pete, but the truth was she was freaking out. Sam could read her like a book.

True, it was harder for him to do it over the phone, but she doubted she would be able to completely hide from him how scared she was. Chloe was carrying a scary amount of cash and diamonds on herself. She needed to be careful not to put herself in a position where it could be taken away. She had the diamonds hidden up under the body of the bike in a crevice taped up tightly. They were her back up plan. She needed to find a safe place to put some of the money, but she was coming up short on ideas.

Chloe played possible conversations over in her mind as she headed down the road. She kept planning out her side of the conversation with Sam. How she would list out her reasons for staying apart logically. What she could say to make him listen to her. She didn't have to talk to him to know that Sam was in full out protective mode. They had talked every day after he left Smallville. He was sure to be frantic now that she hadn't spoken with him for three days.

Chloe saw a sign for a large electronics retailer and got off at the next exit. If they didn't have the phones, they would know where to get them.

Chloe was astounded by the choices she had in prepaid phones. She could even get a new blackberry if she wanted to. She could pay by the minute, or pay ahead for monthly unlimited service. As much as she hated the expenditure she figured she better get an unlimited plan for right now. Sam wasn't going to let her off easy.

The salesmen recommended a phone and company for her. They had nationwide coverage. You could pay in person at wide variety of locations across the country. You could buy cards to add minutes to your phone. He told her the cards were available at a lot of stores if you looked for them. You could also pay using a credit card, not that she was stupid enough to use hers. Pete had all of her old IDs hidden somewhere for her anyway. The salesmen explained that she could change her plan to pay as she went once her current month was up if she wanted to.

The phone and service was a bit more expensive than some of the other options but she figured the flexibility was worth it. She could even change numbers if she wanted to. He activated the phone for her. He didn't blink and eye or ask for ID when she gave her name as Sage Baker. She had decided to get a decent phone. She was able to get one that had unlimited everything. It wasn't much more expensive than just a regular plan and it gave her GPS capability. She figured that would come in very handy if she was going to be traveling a lot. Chloe paid in cash for her phone, service and an auto charger and left over $200 poorer.

Chloe programmed in the brothers phone numbers before locking her phone in her glove box. It was time to find somewhere to hole up for the night. Chloe rode out of town and headed out for the countryside. She was looking for a likely bunch of trees to pull into, or an old barn she could hide in. She wanted something not too overgrown but thick enough to hide her and her bike from the road. Chloe figured it was time to see if she could handle roughing it. She had spent more than enough money today already without getting a hotel. Spotting a dirt road off the highway Chloe pulled down it. She stopped about 100 yards from the road and walked her bike back into the trees about 50 yards and pulled it along side some dense foliage. Chloe stood up and looked around to make sure there weren't any houses visible from her hiding place or poison ivy for that matter. Deciding this was as good as she was likely to get for now, Chloe pulled out her blanket and sat down leaning against an old tree.

Chloe took a deep breath and dialed Sam's number.

"Hello" he answered. God it was so good to hear his voice.

Chloe swallowed and tried to keep her voice steady. "Hello Sam"

"Chloe! Where the hell are you?"

"Umm, North Carolina"

"Chloe are you okay love, are you safe. What the hell is going on? Why are you in NC" Sam spat out questions rapid fire.

"Sam please, slow down. I am okay for now. I am safe. Take a deep breath" Chloe urged.

She heard him take a deep breath and then he said. "Okay. What is going on Chloe? Why did you send me that message 3 days ago?"

"I had to leave home. It was either that or go to prison for who knows how long. I don't do well in small places" Chloe said thinking of waking up in a morgue drawer.

"Prison? Chloe why would you get sent to prison?" Sam asked. She could hear Dean in the back ground. "I don't know why the police are after her Dean. Shut up and let me talk to her".

"It's not the police Sam, it's worse than that. I am wanted by the DDS" Chloe explained.

"The DDS? Oh god you got caught hacking didn't you?" Sam said. "How bad is it?"

Chloe stifled a sob. God she was so screwed. She had purposely not thought about the big picture for days. She had concentrated on the details to keep herself from freaking out. Chloe took a deep breath before she continued, but her voice shook a little when she spoke.

"Hacking, conspiracy and treason" She admitted.

"Fuck! Okay that is not good. I see why you ran now. You did the right thing love. Tell me where you are in NC and we will come get you. We can be there in about two days" Sam said in a calm commanding voice. She wanted more than anything to say yes. It would be so easy to let him come pick her up and take care of her.

"No Sam. I don't think that is a good idea" Chloe replied.

"Damn it Chloe, we can hide you, take care of you. You can't stay at your friend's house for long. The DDS will find you there" Sam explained.

"I am not an idiot Sam, I know that. I left his house this morning. I figured it would be best if I didn't stay in one place too long".

"How are you traveling? Did you ditch your car yet?"

"I got rid of my car. I have other transportation" she told him.

"Chloe I want you to tell me where you are so we can come get you. I don't like the idea of you all alone on the road. It's not safe".

"It's not like I have a choice Sam. Did you cut all communications with Smallville and Victor"?

"Yes, we changed phones and we are going to close the P.O. Box that he has as well" Sam replied.

"I need you to stay that way Sam. No matter who tries to contact you don't even admit you know me. Even if it is Clark looking for me you need to cut the connection" Chloe urged him. "It's just not safe for you guys to know me right now. I am hoping that they won't make a connection to you".

"Chloe I don't care if they make a connection or not. They aren't going to be able to find us anyway" Sam said. "Sweetheart please, I need to see you. I need to make sure you are okay".

"Not yet Sam, I need to let things cool off first. If we do this right, then we won't have to be looking over our shoulders all the time. We just need to have patience and wait this out. If I disappear long enough they will pull back the hunt for me and then it will be safe for all of us if I come to you" Chloe explained.

"Do you have enough cash? If you can get a hotel and food for a week or so then we will come for you sweetheart".

Chloe groaned. She knew that he wasn't going to let this go easy, but this was like talking to a brick wall.

"Sam I am not talking about a couple of weeks, we should wait months before seeing each other. I think six months would be best".

"Six months? Are you out of your mind! There is no way I am leaving you alone on the road for six months. Please sweetheart I love you. I can't stand the thought of you being out there all alone".

"I don't care how long we have to wait to be safe. I want to do this right the first time so once we are together I never have to leave you. I love you so much Sam".

"We don't have to wait that long. We haven't seen anyone yet following us" Sam said.

"Good. Just keep an eye out. If we are lucky they won't connect your old phones with you. I assume they were in aliases" Chloe said.

"Yes they were. It is highly unlikely that they will be able to put our names or faces to them Chloe" he said.

"Good. I am so glad to hear that. I would hate to be the one to draw the attention of the feds to you two".

"Will I be able to get you on this number from now on"?

"Yes I paid for the whole month on this phone. I can add more time anytime I want. They didn't require ID so I put it in an alias" Chloe sighed. "I really do miss you love."

"I want to ask you something. The charges, are they real?" Sam asked quietly.

"Did I hack into some places I probably shouldn't have? Yes. Did I commit treason? No. The truth is, if they have proof of even part of what I did last month I will be in prison for the rest of my life. I have no defense to mount that won't put other people in danger who I will not throw under the bus. I am not a traitor to my county. I was saving it" she said passionately.

"Sweetheart, I know you are involved in stuff that you won't tell me about. If you got into this trouble helping them, then why aren't they hiding you, protecting you"?

"They don't know" she admitted.

"Why? How could they not know you are on the run?" he asked.

"I left them a message that I wanted out. I said I never wanted to speak to any of them again. Right now I am the only one implicated in this. If they stay away and don't try to contact me, then the DDS won't link me to them. They do a lot of good work Sam. I couldn't let that be compromised because I got careless" she explained. "Clark and Lois are the only ones who know the truth".

Sam sighed. "Chloe I miss you. I wish you would reconsider".

"I won't Sam, but remember. I am doing all of this so we can be together. My only goal in this whole thing is to keep you safe and make it back to you".

"Don't stay in hotels that are too run down. If you need more money we will figure out a way to get it too you" he said.

Chloe looked around her at the beautiful forest and said truthfully. "I am staying in a really nice place tonight Sam".

All of a sudden Chloe realized she was an idiot. She didn't have to stay out in the middle of the woods like this. Camp sites were cheep, the tent ones even more so. Then she would have access to showers and have the safety of other people around her, families with children and couples on vacation. She wondered if she had enough room for a tent in her saddlebags. Maybe, or she could strap it to the luggage rack. She could stay safely for half the price of a hotel room or less.

"Chloe?"

"Oh sorry Sam, I was just thinking. I need some advice. Clark, Lana and some other people gave me as much money as they could get on short notice. I am actually carrying around a lot more money than I am comfortable with. What can I do to safely hide some of this away? I can't put it in a bank" Chloe asked.

"Well the simplest would be to get a PO Box and mail it to yourself. Don't put cash in an envelope. Put it in a box and tape it closed really well. Then when you need more money you can just go pick up your mail" Sam explained.

"What a great idea Sam. Thank you" Chloe smiled. "Listen baby I am tired. I am going to try and get some sleep now. I'll be thinking of you."

"Just stay safe for me love. I'll think of something to help you I promise" Sam said.

"Night"

Chloe disconnected the call with a sigh. He was not going to make this easy on her.

Chloe took one last look around but everything was quiet as a church. She laid back against the tree trying to get comfortable. Tomorrow she was buying a damn tent.

Chloe slept restlessly waking many times in the night hearing sounds. She kept telling herself it was just animals in the woods, but that didn't exactly make her feel better. It was still barely twilight out when she gave up. She pushed her bike out back onto the road with a groan. Okay, trees did not make good beds. She stretched slowly working out the kinks before climbing on her bike. She decided that the mountains would probably be the best place to look for camp grounds. Spotting a Wal-mart just off the road she stopped and went inside. Picking up a biscuit and coffee at the McDonald's inside, she headed back to the camping section. Chloe was able to get a one person tent, a sleeping pad, bungee cord, stakes and a rubber mallet for less than $50. The tent packed up really small and only weighed 4 lbs. She swung through heath and beauty and grabbed some hair dye before heading to the checkout. While she was waiting in line her phone rang. Seeing it was Sam she answered.

"Good morning love"

"You sound way too happy for this early in the morning" Sam responded.

"I have been up a while already. So where are you guys?" She asked.

"We are in South Dakota at a friend's house. We don't have a current case. I started to check into your problem about 5 times already. It's hard to just sit here knowing you are in trouble" Sam said in a pouty voice.

Chloe paid for her purchases and pushed her cart out front taking a seat on a bench. "I know it's hard to let it go Sam but you have to. It's best if I just leave that life behind me".

"I know and I promise I will. Where are you?"

"I am still in NC, will probably be here for a couple more days before heading out of the state. Listen I want to get back on the road and put more miles behind me. Since you aren't busy right now, why don't I call you back once I get a place for the night" Chloe said. "I miss you"

"I miss you sweetheart, be careful".

That phone call started a pattern for their days. They spoke or texted every morning and talked at night before they went to bed. The weather was still lovely out so Chloe spent most nights at camp grounds.

She kept that fact from Sam for as long as she could without lying to him. Eventually he asked a question she couldn't evade so she confessed. She really didn't want to lie to him if she could help it. He wasn't exactly thrilled that she was camping out, but admitted that it was probably safe enough. She paid in cash so she was able to use a string of alias as she went along. She only had to use her fake ID two times in the last 3 weeks.

Frankly she liked camping better than staying at hotels, because she had people to talk to. People in the camp grounds were more likely to treat you like a friend. She got invited to share family dinners two or three nights a week. She only accepted invitations from families and groups of women. She was careful to only eat things that she saw everyone else having. She guessed they felt bad for her all alone. She knew she looked defenseless, which she wasn't.

She had followed through on her idle musings with Sam that day at the farmstead and had signed up for self defense classes. She took three classes a week once her rib healed enough for her to participate. She wasn't a karate master by any means, but she was much more capable of taking care of herself now than she was even 3 months ago. She kept her tazer in the pocket of her leather jacket all the time as an additional precaution. Chloe worked out every morning where ever she was. The exercises helped her to relax and focus. She wasn't sure she ever found her chi, but she knew she was benefiting both in reduced stress and increased flexibility.

Sam had started to relax a bit about her being out on her own. She kept telling him about park after park she had visited. How she spent her day, walking, or playing with some kids, or taking classes at the Ranger center. She didn't tell him about the creepy guy who had followed her down a path one day in Illinois. She ended up having to put him on his ass when he kept trying to touch her. She didn't tell him that even though she was surrounded by happy friendly folks all the time, she felt so dreadfully alone.

She was currently in Minnesota, a state she had never visited before, which was much lovelier than she had envisioned it. She was staying at the Green Stone Park and had spent all morning swimming in the Lake. Chloe had been lily pale, so Sage was golden brown. She still used the name Sage a lot. It made her feel more connected to home using the name Echo had given her. She was relaxing back on the shoreline soaking in the sun when she heard a scream.

Chloe jolted upright and looked around. It was impossible to tell who had screamed. The whole beach area looked like a gopher den with heads sticking up and people running around. Not wanting to be caught unawares, Chloe packed up her few belonging and pulled on her shorts and shoes.

There was another scream, this time she could make out the words. "Help, please. My baby, my poor baby"!

Chloe ran as fast as she could towards the voice with her bag bumping against her hip knowing that something was very wrong. The poor woman sounded hysterical. When she got to the area she had to suppress the urge to hurl. The baby the poor woman was sobbing over had to have been 90 or 100 lbs when he was still in one piece. He looked like he had been some kind of mixed breed Newfoundland mutt. Chloe pull the poor woman away from the corpse and asked her what had happened. She still wasn't making much sense, but it sounded like some kind of animal had come out of the woods and eaten her dog. More like torn the poor dog limb from limb.

"Someone get the Ranger" Chloe said. She wanted to know what the ranger would make of this. What kind of animal could do that kind of damage to a 100 lb dog?

Chloe passed the woman off to a man trying to comfort her. He used her name so she guessed it was her husband. Pulling out her cell phone Chloe took shots of the scene. Her new phone had a really decent camera on it, once she loaded them onto her lap top the quality was good. Stepping carefully around the scene to avoid disturbing it she found an animal track. It was Huge. Holding her hand down beside it for perspective she took a shot.

Seeing the Ranger coming Chloe backed up into the crowd. She tried to listen in without appearing overly interested. The Ranger pushed everyone back from the corpse and told them to go back to the beach. Some people wandered away, but enough stayed that Chloe didn't feel conspicuous. She pulled her note pad out of her bag and jotted down notes. The dog's owner was more coherent than she had been earlier. If Chloe had not seen the paw print in the ground, she would have dismissed the woman's description as hysteria. The creature she was describing was monstrous. She said it was huge and black. She said when it stood on its hind legs it was as tall as one of the cabins. She didn't get a really good look at it but said it was very broad and hairless.

Chloe wasn't sure what in the world that could be. It was too big for a Black bear and grizzlies weren't quite that big either. Anyway, there weren't grizzlies in this area normally. The ranger assured the poor woman that it was probably just a bear. HA! Did you see the size of that paw print ranger lady? It was easily 14-15 inches long. Well actually she hadn't seen the paw print yet. Black bears were not normally aggressive anyway, so that made no sense at all. Chloe waited until almost everyone had cleared out and went up to the ranger.

"Ma'am, I really need to show you something," Chloe spoke to the ranger, 'Evans' by her name tag, quietly and calmly so she wouldn't be overheard.

Ranger Evans looked up at her. Something in her tone must have impressed her because she glanced at the other people around and nodded following Chloe. Chloe took her to the back of the scene where she had found the paw print and showed it to her.

"Good god" she whispered in horror.

Chloe nodded. "That is way too big for a black bear isn't it?"

"I am not sure even Grizzlies have feet that big. Maybe a polar bear has paws that big." Ranger Evans grimaced. "That's impossible so it has to be a grizzly. But damn he a big boy, and grizzlies are generally smaller the further inland you are".

The Ranger pulled out her radio. "Tom?"

"Yeah Cindy"

"I need you to come out here. I am between the swimming area and cabin 4. Call fish and wildlife and see if you can get someone to come out here as well".

"We got a problem out there"?

"You are going to have to see this one yourself Tom, and bring your riffle".

"On my way"

"You should go back to camp Ma'am, we have everything under control here" Ranger Evans said.

Chloe smiled brightly at her and headed off like she was going back to cabin 4. Once she saw the Rangers attention was on the corpse she cut back into the woods and checked for more prints. She slowly followed them back through the woods being careful not to disturb the trail and being as quiet as possible. Chloe set her cell to silence and pulled out her tazer setting it to max. It might not stop a grizzly but it might make him think twice.

Chloe got quite a ways through the forest before she lost the trail. She headed back to camp with more questions than answers.


	3. Chapter 3

**Evasion – 3/?**

By Deliciously Weird

Pairing: Chloe/Sam

Characters: Chloe Sullivan, Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester, Bobby Singer, OFC, OMCx5

Rating: This is an adult fiction, it is not appropriate for children of any age. (Adult Language, Violence, off screen death and Sexual situations)

Series: At Home in Your Heart – Book 2 (Book 1 - Ineffable)

Description: Truly alone for the first time in her life, Chloe tries to cope while being hunted.

Warnings: Spoilers for up to season 8 Smallville and up to season 3 supernatural. This is AU but prior character history is mostly canon. I do not have a beta, so all mistakes are my own.

Disclaimer: All recognized characters from Supernatural are property of Eric  
Kripke/CW. All characters, references, and other things pertaining to Smallville are property of the WB, DC Comics, Tollin-Robins, Al Gough & Miles Millar, and J. Siegal & J. Shuster. I make no money for my labors, only friends.

Chloe sat down at the picnic table at her site and booted up her laptop. She ran an extension cord over to the electrical outlet so the battery would charge up. Of all her technology, her lap top was the worst to keep charged. Her cell phone and iPod would charge off her bike. The lap top had to wait until she stayed at a hotel, or be left sitting out at her camp site. She didn't like to unplug it half charged, so she was stuck sitting at her camp site until it was complete.

Chloe really only stayed at hotels on nights it was suppose to rain hard. One thing she had learned about her cute little cheepo tent, it leaked buckets if it rained harder than a sprinkle. Chloe figured she would be at camp for a while. She wanted to do some research on bears in particular and Minnesota wildlife in general.

Chloe had discovered that lakeside parks were often more expensive. To off set that though, there were so many homes along the waterfront; she could often find an open internet connection to leach off. Chloe had been researching for about an hour when the park truck pulled up and stopped in front of her camp site. Ranger Evans climbed out and stood at the end of her drive for a moment until Chloe smiled at her then she walked up. Chloe figured that was the camp ground equivalent of knocking on the door.

"Can I help you Ranger?" Chloe asked. The Ranger looked about 27 years old with sun streaked brown hair in a pony tail and light colored eyes. She was tan and very fit looking. At a guess Chloe would peg her as a jogger.

"I wanted to speak with you Miss Baker about what happened this afternoon." Ranger Evans said.

"Pull up a picnic table and make yourself comfortable. Please call me Sage. Horrible thing with the poor dog" Chloe reached over and put the lid down on her lap top to hide her research.

"Actually that's what I wanted to talk to you about" the Ranger looked a touch uneasy. Chloe decided to put her out of her misery and save herself the speech. She had heard the 'leave it in the hands of the professionals' speech many times before.

"I figured as much" Chloe said. "Listen Ranger Evans, I know what I saw out there, but no one else here needs to know. If you want to keep it low key to avoid a panic I'll smile and nod along with whatever public story you come up with. It looks like a lot of folks left this afternoon already. The question is are you trying to keep visitors in the park or get them out"?

The Ranger sighed and sat down. "Call me Cindy please. The word that is being put out is that a grizzly ended up out here. Being out of his natural habitat, he is acting out because of confusion. We would like you to keep the paw print to yourself as you guessed. Other than that we are urging everyone to not go anywhere alone and keep all food locked up air tight. I don't like that you are out here all by your self. I would like to offer to move you to a site up by the Ranger station at the same cost. You are our only single camper at the moment so I'll feel better once you are up near more people".

"That is a real kind offer Cindy. I'll move up there first thing in the morning" Chloe replied.

"I already have the site reserved for you, 14B. I would prefer it if you moved up tonight" Cindy said.

"I would but my laptop is charging. It won't be done until after dark. I only have the one battery with me so I don't want to unplug it early, which kills your battery life. I'll be careful. Thanks for worrying about me" Chloe said. Chloe could see her point actually. She had picked a site down on the end of the campground. It was loop with six tent sites a bit apart from the rest of the campgrounds. Chloe had liked it because she could see the lake through the trees. She liked to stare out over the water when she was thinking. On a normal day all of that was good. Being this far out now seemed unadvisable.

"Come by the Ranger station in the morning and we can have a cup of coffee" Cindy said.

"Oh god coffee, that is the one thing I really miss. I don't have room for a coffee maker in my saddlebags. You so have a date!" Chloe said with a bright grin.

Cindy laughed and got up. "Have a good night Sage" Cindy waved and headed to her truck.

Well that was interesting, if not unexpected. The park service was taking the conservative road for now. Not that Chloe really blamed them at this point. It was only one dog. Chloe just had a real bad feeling about this. That wasn't a normal bear out there. The paw print was way too large. It was definitely a bear like print, but there wasn't anything native to this area that had a print anything like that. It had attacked that dog while it was still daylight and close to the campground.

Chloe sighed and opened her laptop again. One thing was for sure. She wouldn't want Shelby out here for anything. Not being an idiot, Chloe made sure to read an article on bear safety before she shut down her computer. She didn't think this was a normal bear, but it may have some of the same instincts. She turned on her bike radio and listened to music while she waited for Sam to call. She usually let him do the calling. His life was more important at the moment. She was just an idle unemployed bum bike camping around the US. It actually wasn't a horrible life. The food was often whatever didn't require heating or cooling and could fit in her saddle bags. So variety was only something she got when other campers fed her or she went out to eat.

Sam called her a little bit later than usual. They were on a case near Palm Bay Florida. It was some freaky shit involving Voodoo. Chloe was awful glad not to have to deal with that. Ever since she found out that Clark could be affected by magic, it had seriously creeped her out. Not to mention the whole slutty witch bit.

Sam sounded exhausted, so they didn't stay on the phone long. She did tell him about the dog getting killed. She figured that there was a good chance she was already working their next case for them and she would end up calling them in to finish it off. The thought of them working another case she started for them made her smile. She didn't tell Sam how big the bear/creature was. She figured he had more than enough to worry about for now. She just didn't want to get yelled at later for not telling him. She loved that man to death, but he could seriously be overprotective. At least he had finally given up on getting her location out of her. The most she ever told him was what state or mountain range she was in. He wanted her to leave the park but was willing, after a bit of argument, to let the matter drop when she told him she would be moving to a camp site right beside the ranger station in the morning. Sam kept yawning so she sent him to bed.

She and Sam fought a lot lately. She cherished every phone call with him, but often one or the other of them ended up hanging up early. This situation had become a real stress on their relationship. Not that their relationship hadn't always been stressed by circumstance and separation. They both always apologized the next time they spoke. Chloe wondered how much longer they could hold up under the strain. Would she end up loosing the relationship that was the one thing she was fighting hardest to keep?

Chloe turned over everything she had learned in her head until it was time for bed. She couldn't really afford the space to carry the file folders and printed documents she usually did research from, so she was forced to hang stuff on her mental wall of weird.

When her laptop was charged up it was well after dark. Chloe locked everything up and climbed into her tent for the night.

Chloe woke up suddenly unsure what she had just heard. She froze still listening in the dark. Then she heard it again. It was the awful wailing howl of a dog in mortal agony. The sound just ripped Chloe's heart out. She wanted to sob as she listened to the poor creature die out in the night, but she was too scared to make a sound. Something was definitely not right.

Chloe reached over and slowly pulled on her jacket. Pulling out the tazer she put it on the ground beside her. She pulled on her shoes slowly trying not to make a sound then slowly unzipped her tent and peeked out the door. There was enough moonlight to see by, but not clearly enough to tell what she saw. Everything was just dark shadows between patches of moonlight. Chloe talked herself through the breathing exercises her instructor had taught her, she forced herself to breath deep and slow. Once she had calmed herself, she took stock of the situation.

There were only two tents left in the area with her. One was still pitch black like hers, but the Couple with the teenage kid had their lantern turned on and you could clearly see them. The husband was standing by the tent door. Mother and son were sitting together on the floor. Son of a Bitch! They were lighting themselves up saying, eat me, eat me. Chances were a natural bear would avoid the light. However, Chloe wasn't betting on this being a natural anything. The description the dog owner gave of the creature was similar but not really a bear. Of course, she could just be a nut job, but who knew. Her weird-dar had been pinging sense she saw the dog. Chloe curse herself out for what she was about to do, but what choice did she have.

Slowly getting up out of her tent she looked around the alcove they were in. She didn't see any movement. Slinking from tree to tree senses heightened, she moved across the empty sites between her and the family. She flashed her flashlight once on the father's chest so he would know she was there and stepped up to the front of their tent. Holding her hand over his mouth she stood up on tippy toe and whispered in his ear. "Turn that damn light off; get your family in your car. You are safer in there." She looked up into his face and he nodded. Chloe stepped away as quietly as she could. Her breath hitched in her lungs when the son talked asking questions, but his parents hushed him quickly. Chloe went back to her site and pulled her blanket out of her tent. Chloe winced as she heard two car doors shut louder than she would have liked. Putting her back to her bike she sat there in the darkness watching and listening in total silence. She practically stopped breathing when she heard what she thought was a large animal moving through the brush close by. Her hand tightened and loosened around her tazer whenever she heard something. She heard some rustling among the bushes several more times, but she had no way of knowing what animal it was she heard. She thought she heard snuffling as well. Maybe it was a boar out there. Please be a boar. Evil foul tempered things that they were, Chloe would really much rather deal with a piggy. Hey maybe she could introduce the piggy to the bear. Fozzie liked Miss Piggy right? Realizing that her thoughts were turning ever so slightly hysterical Chloe forced herself to relax again. She thought about getting on her bike and going to the Ranger station, but they would be closed. She wouldn't be any better off and her bike would wake up the whole camp. Chloe stayed where she was watchful, she didn't sleep again the rest night.

When day broke Chloe was only too happy to pack up her tent and get the hell outta there. She had no desire to be cut off from the rest of the camp. The RV sites up by the Ranger station were much closer together. Chloe got her tent set back up quickly and checked her watch.

Cindy probably wouldn't be here this early, but she headed to the ranger station anyway. She figured she could sit and stare at trees on their steps as well as she could on her picnic table. Ranger T. McDowell was the first one to show up at the station. He was a pleasant gentleman who from the look of him was about 45 and a little over fond of beer. Chloe guessed he was the Tom Cindy had called the other day. Once he had the station opened up she told him what had happened during the night. Tom, bless his ever loving Irish heart, offered her a cup of coffee. She considered falling at his feet and offering worship, but figured that might be going a bit far and settled for a fervent thank you.

He asked her a lot questions about the incident. Was she sure it was an injured dog? Yes, like you could ever mistake that horrible sound for anything else. Did she have any idea what she heard moving around in the woods? What did she mean by snuffling sound? That was smart of her to tell the family to sleep in there car. Had she told them anything about the bear track she saw yesterday? Did she really think her tazer was going to hurt a 1000 lbs grizzly? He went on and on for over an hour. She might have been irritated with him if he hadn't continued to fill her coffee cup every time it ran dry. He even produced a couple of day old donuts to dunk in it. Cindy came in and she told her story a second time, pausing whenever someone would come into the station. Both Tom and Cindy looked worried. Chloe didn't blame them one bit. They decided to call in the sheriff and some of the local boys to check the woods and see if they could find the bear/monster/thingie. Chloe sighed to herself knowing she was about to add a naughty mark to her tally and told them about following the tracks yesterday.

She was right, there was the evil I am the professional what are you doing glare. She just bore it stoically then pointed out on the park map what area she thought would be best for them to start in. When the sheriff came in Chloe tried to fade into the woodwork. She was hoping that they would continue to let her observe the proceedings. She actually got to do one better than that. They asked her to lead the Sheriff, his deputy and two guys named John and Cameron to the tracks she had followed.

Chloe pointed out to them that her tazer did not a shot gun make and she would only take them as far as the side of the lake then she was outta there. This made the Sheriff grin and she figured she had gotten a tally on the nice column with that comment. Chloe had stopped keeping track of the tally with the Smallville Sheriff by the 11th grade. That was when she had to add a new page to keep track of the naughty marks. The Sheriff was an average sort of guy, brown hair and eyes and about 5'10". He was the kind of guy you pictured in your mind when someone talked about their dad. His deputy was one of the most stunning black gentlemen Chloe had ever seen. She would have killed for his cheek bones. He had serious eyes and a dour disposition.

She went out to her camp site and pulled on her walking shoes. It was afternoon by the time everyone was ready to head out. Someone had brought over a tray of sandwiches and Chloe smiled and helped herself to her second free meal of the day. Frankly she was on such a caffeine overload by now it was a wonder she wasn't vibrating. When she still lived in Smallville she drank coffee all day long, but she had been severely limited in coffee intake for the last 3 weeks. She had glutted herself in the glory that was fresh brewed coffee to an almost ridiculous degree.

Chloe lead the men through the woods pointing out the tracks as they went along. Apparently John was the best tracker in the group. He spotted a few that she had missed. Chloe paid close attention to him after that and asked him several quiet questions about how to see what he saw. He was young guy, not much older than her. He flirted with her in a gentle sort of way while he taught her as they went along. He was good looking enough in a shaggy sort of way, with very sharp dark brown eyes. Chloe smiled at him but didn't flirt back. It felt good to have someone pay her attention. If his little crush gained her knowledge, then she would certainly take advantage of it. She did see the Sheriff grin at Cameron when John helped her over a fallen log. She wondered if John and Cameron were related, he had the same dark brown eyes as their tracker.

The rest of the guys followed them talking quietly. She guessed they thought she couldn't hear them. Either that or they had accepted her as an erstwhile member of there group. They weren't monitoring there conversation. She learned that there had been several other dogs gone missing about town. They also mentioned someone name Hank reporting lots of animal carcasses on his property. The sheriff said he hadn't thought anything of it at first. He figured it was bobcat. About half way between cabin four and the bend in the Lake where she had lost the bear/monster/mean thing's trail last time, they found the corpse of another dog. Chloe turned away at first from the grizzly sight. John placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Taking a deep breath she pulled out her cell phone and started taking pictures of the new body. She found a good track near the corpse to photograph, again using her hand in the shot for comparison. They could compare these tracks with the ones from yesterday and make sure it was the same creature. Chloe was pretty sure it was. On a tree near the attack Chloe found a claw mark about eye level. She took a picture of that as well, laying her hand beside the marks. Unlike the first dog, this one hadn't had its throat ripped open by the whatever. Okay let's just call it Lamb for now Chloe thought. Not very creative sounding mind you, but Large Ass Monster Bear would scare the campers. Chloe jotted down a few notes quickly in her notebook and then nodded that she was ready. The Sheriff asked her if she could send them copies of the pictures she took. He called her Miss Sage, which she found charming. She agreed to save them for the Rangers when she got back to camp.

Once they reached the bend of the lake where she had stopped before, the Sheriff told Chloe she could head back. She nodded but hung around John watching for a little while longer. She wanted to see where she had missed picking up the trail. Knowledge was never wasted, knowing how to track might come in handy.

"You will let me know if you find the LAMB?" she asked them to put her chosen name on the creature. The boys laughed when she explained what it stood for. He nodded and told her to be careful and go straight back to camp.

She waved goodbye and told them to be careful before heading back towards camp. No way in hell was she going to stay out there in the gathering dark armed with a tazer and a flashlight. She was brave, not stupid. Chloe hurried back to camp. She stopped by her camp site and pulled her lap top case out of her saddlebags. Slinging it over her shoulder she headed into the Ranger station.

"The guys want some pictures that I took today" Chloe said carefully minding that there were campers in the office. "Mind if I sit there to load them up for you"? She asked nodding to a table behind the counter. She gave Cindy what she hoped was a significant glance and the woman nodded. Chloe plugged her computer into the wall and booted it up. Cindy came over once she was done checking in the campers.

When windows came online and her desktop loaded Cindy said. "Wow nice picture. Where did you find that one"?

"Well I took it actually" Chloe smiled.

"You Know that guy?" She asked with a grin.

"Yes I do. He is my boyfriend" Chloe said with a shit eating grin.

"You are kidding me right? God he is gorgeous" Cindy said. "You are one lucky girl".

"Yes I really am. He doesn't even know how gorgeous he is" Chloe said. "He is more beautiful on the inside too. Stupid protective mind you, but sweet and kind".

Chloe plugged her phone into her computer and pulled off the photos placing them in a file. She labeled it K9-2 so she didn't get the pictures mixed up.

"You have pictures from yesterday too? I didn't see you take them" she said. "Why would you want pictures of a dead dog anyway"?

Cindy was starting to sound suspicious. Chloe figured that she needed to say something or she was going to loose her spot in the investigation. "Force of habit I guess. I used to be an investigative reporter. My head is always full of questions".

That was good as far as that went, but she didn't want her thinking she was after a story. "I gave it up about a year ago. I started getting threats from some powerful people. I didn't think a job was worth my life" Chloe told her. It was all true, if you squinted and looked at her life story sideways so it aught to ring true to Cindy.

"Is that why you are out here camping by yourself?" Cindy asked.

That was hitting too close to home Chloe thought, better shut down that line of questioning. "I am on my way to visit my Uncle. I had some time off coming, so I thought I would visit him. I wanted to spend some time at the park to relax before heading the rest of the way" she answered.

Chloe opened the file and pulled up the pictures to distract Cindy. She didn't want her asking anymore questions about who she was.

"That one is just as bad as the last dog" Cindy said. "Poor thing, no wonder it was crying last night". Cindy wrapped an arm around her stomach.

"If you have disks or a flash drive I will copy these for you" Chloe offered.

"Where is Tom?" Chloe asked.

"He had to go home at the end of his Shift. He is a single dad." Cindy explained.

Chloe burned the pictures onto the CDs that Cindy gave her. She wasted more time individually renaming each file with an appropriate police office kind of name, date-K9-2-GreenStone-001.

For lack of anything more useful to do Chloe started typing up reports on the two canine deaths. It gave her a reason to continue to hang out in the Ranger station. She tried to make it official sounding with a lot of detail and positioning information. She got to use her new descriptive picture names in the reports. She borrowed a ruler from Cindy and measured the dimensions of her hand and included that in the report for reference. When she had finished she plugged into the old office printer and printed off copies of the reports for Cindy. She would have printed the pictures, but the quality of the printer wasn't high enough.

Chloe was starting to run out of ways to stall when the station phone rang.

"Green Stone Park"

"Search and rescue"?

"How long has he been missing"?

"I'll call right away".

"I can call his momma if you want".

"Okay yeah I'll wait".

Listening to half this conversation was driving Chloe Up a Wall!

"Call me if you find him right away please!"

"Poor Linda will be frantic".

Cindy hung the phone up and dialed right back out. "We need Search and rescue out at Green Stone Park. We have what we assume is an aggressive grizzly in the area and one of our investigation team has been missing for over an hour. Please send them right away."

"Yes. No. I'll be at the station we can show you what area they were headed too."

"The rest of the team is out there still searching".

Cindy hung up the phone but didn't let go of the receiver. Her head was bent and she looked fragile.

"Who Cindy?" Chloe asked.

"Johnny," she said with a sniffle. "Oh god it's Johnny".

Chloe felt like she had been slugged in the stomach. If that sweet man was missing then he was hurt or dead. If he was missing an hour he would have tracked his way back to the group by now.

"I am so sorry Cindy. I am sure search and rescue will find him" Chloe said but she wasn't sure she really believed it.

"I've known him all my life. We grew up together" Cindy sat down slowly. "I need you to stay around to show them the area you took the guys too".

"I will Cindy. I am going to go to my site for a few minutes and get something to eat and call my boyfriend. I just need to hear his voice right now. I moved sites this morning like you asked, so I am right next door if you need me".

Chloe looked around to make sure no one was close enough to over hear her. No sense in panicking the natives. Taking out her phone she dialed Dean.

"Hello"

"Dean it's Chloe".

"Princess? Why are you calling me instead of Sam? He is right here. Is your phone dead Sammy?" Dean said.

"Dean. Wait, I need to talk you two as investigator to hunters, not to my freaked out over protective boyfriend. Sam is not going to like this and I need you guys to listen I may not have long to talk".

"What's going on Princess" Dean asked seriously.

"If you can make him listen and not talk then put me on speaker, otherwise fill him in later for me" Chloe said.

"Sam I am going to put her on speaker. Chloe has something to tell us so just shut your cake hole and listen" she heard Dean say.

"Okay Princess spill" Dean said demandingly. Damn he was a bossy cuss sometimes.

Chloe started to explain what had happened. She told them about her investigation chronologically. When she got to the part where she tracked the Bear back the first day, Sam started to protest her recklessness. She heard what she could only assume was Dean smacking Sam on the back of the head and he shut up.

"Thank you Dean. Sam check your email, I just sent you all the files from the K9 deaths, and my reports on the scenes".

She continued her story until she got to the point where she went to call them. Sam and Dean started asking her questions. She answered as well as she could.

"John was a woodsman Dean. I don't think he would be lost this long unless he was hurt or.." Chloe said. "I just… am I over reacting, or is this something that you guys need to come look at? Something just doesn't feel right".

"I think you are right Chloe. It sounds like something is off down there. I would need to scan the attack scenes to make more than an educated guess" Dean said.

"Oh I have my Q3 with me. I am so dumb; I didn't even think to use it. I can run out there and scan the area for you" Chloe offered.

Apparently that was all that Sam could take, because the next thing he said was.

"Are you out of your mind? I want you to pack up and get the hell out of there now Chloe. Go to a hotel and stay out of the park until we get there" Sam said in a livid voice.

"Sammy! Shut up" Dean said.

"I don't want you to go anywhere tonight Princess. Go back into the Ranger station and stay there if you can. Sleep in your car if you can't stay in the station. You can check readings in the morning if you can get someone to go with you. Your LAMB had dog for dinner so he will most likely be sleeping tomorrow morning" Dean told her.

"I doubt they will be closing down the Ranger station tonight, so I should be able to hang out. Cindy, the Ranger, asked me to hang around to show Search and Rescue where the guys were the last time I saw them" Chloe told them.

"Even if we got in the car right now and drove straight through we wouldn't be there until day after tomorrow Princess. We are already in the middle of a mess down here and it will be a few days until we are done" Dean said.

"Dean I don't care. It's Chloe, we have to go now" Sam said. "I am on my way sweetheart."

"Damn it Sammy, people are dying here. We need to finish this case" Dean said.

"We can't leave her alone up there Dean" Sam protested. "I won't."

"Who said anything about leaving her alone up there?" Dean said. "Princess, I am going to make a phone call and see if I can get another hunter up there with you. He is someone I would trust with my life. If he is free, he will come give you a hand. He is much closer to you anyway. I will call you back either way".

He hung up and Chloe waited impatiently pacing up and down her parking spot. What would she do if no one came? Chloe realized that she was spoiled. She had been around heroes all of her life. When ever she got into trouble in an investigation she had always had Clark to turn to and then Justice League as well. All of a sudden Chloe felt more alone than she had ever been. It hit her all of a sudden that she needed to start being even more cautious. From now on, the cavalry wouldn't be there to rescue her.

Chloe Sullivan, you stop being such an idiot. Of course you are not alone. She gave herself a stern talking to. Even without calling Sam and Dean there had was already a group of experience people headed out this way. If things got really bad she could call Clark. It wouldn't be optimal, but he would come save her. Then he could relocate both her and her bike by several states before the DDS could even think about mobilizing a team. It would potentially put him back in the spotlight, so it wasn't something she wanted to do lightly. Chloe took a deep breath feeling better.

Okay she was just going to have to look into getting a gun. Her tazer did just fine protecting her most of the time, but right now she felt incredibly vulnerable. Chloe jumped and almost shrieked when her phone rang. Pressing her hand over her racing heart Chloe called herself an idiot.

"Hello?"

"Hey Princess, your knight in shinning armor is on his way. Bobby should be there before daylight tomorrow" Dean said.

"Dean, I love you!" Chloe said fervently.

"Hey!" she heard Sam say in the background and giggled.

"Sorry Sam, I am just so relieved. I have to admit I am nervous being here alone. Tell Bobby that I am in site 14B. Tell him I am telling the ranger he is my stepbrother".

"Better make that Uncle Bobby sweetheart" Sam said.

"I am using the name Sage Baker here" Chloe told them. "Okay, I'll tell them my Uncle is coming to stay with me. Let him know I only have a one man tent here, so he needs to bring his own or get a hotel room, the nearest is about 20min away on the other side of the lake"

They described Bobby and his car to Chloe so she would recognize him.

"Okay I am going to call Bobby back and let him know what is going on. You stay safe Princess. Sam is going to call you right back" Dean said hanging up.

Not four seconds later her phone rang again.

"Hi Sam" she said.

"I really wish you would get out of there sweetheart. I don't like the idea of you there alone" Sam complained.

"I am right up by the Ranger station now Sam, I should be safe enough. With all the people that are going to be coming in and out of here LAMB won't be coming near me".

"I don't want to loose you Chloe, I can't loose you" Sam said softly.

"You won't love. I am being careful I promise. Bobby will be here soon" she said. "You told me that you trust him with your life".

"I do love without a doubt, but I am not sure I trust anyone with yours" Sam said.

Chloe saw the Cindy standing beside the station. She waved at her indicating that she wanted to speak with her. She walked over to Cindy indicating for her to wait one moment.

"The Ranger needs me hon. I have to go. I miss you like crazy" Chloe said.

"I love you Chloe, please be careful, be safe" he said.

"I will my love, you too. Be careful as well, I worry about you too. Bye" Chloe hung up.

"Sorry about that" Chloe grinned sheepishly at Cindy.

Chloe saw Cindy smile for the first time in hours. "If I had a man like that waiting on me I would be on the phone with him constantly".

"We are" Chloe laughed. "What can I do for you?"

"Fish and wildlife would like us to send over those pictures you took. It would be a lot faster if you did it on your laptop. Our computer here is ancient" Cindy explained. "I'll give you the access code for our internet no charge".

"Sure no problem, just let me grab my bag and I will be right up" Chloe said. Chloe figured she wouldn't mention leaching off some unknown person's internet.

Chloe grabbed her laptop case and a package of peanuts out of her saddlebags. She poured herself a cup of water out of the spigot at her site and headed up to the station. Once she was set up she got the email address she needed from Cindy. She pulled up one of her anonymous hotmail accounts and started sending over files.

"Could you send those reports you typed up too Sage. They were great." Cindy asked as she set a leftover sandwich from lunch down beside Chloe. "You need to eat more than nuts for dinner".

"Thank you" Chloe said. "When is Search and Rescue going to be here"?

"The team is coming out of Duluth, so it will be a couple of hours before they can get here" Cindy said.

"Okay. When I am done here I am going to go see if I can get a couple hours sleep. I think tomorrow is going to be a long day. My Uncle is coming to stay with me. He should be here early in the morning. So if he asks for me, just point him to my site".

Chloe got up when she was done and walked over to let Cindy know she was leaving. "If you need me for anything come wake me up".

"I'll be here all night, so if you hear anything you head straight for the station. Rest well Sage" Cindy said.

Chloe climbed into her tent knowing the brothers would be pissed at her for staying there, but she just had to get a couple hours of sleep before she dropped. Last night had hardly been restful and tomorrow was going to be a long day.


	4. Chapter 4

**Evasion – 4/?**

By Deliciously Weird

Pairing: Chloe/Sam

Characters: Chloe Sullivan, Bobby Singer, Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester, Bobby Singer, OCs

Rating: This is an adult fiction, it is not appropriate for children of any age. (Adult Language, Violence, off screen death and Sexual situations)

Series: At Home in Your Heart – Book 2 (Book 1 - Ineffable)

Description: Truly alone for the first time in her life, Chloe tries to cope while being hunted.

Warnings: Spoilers for up to season 8 Smallville and up to season 3 supernatural. This is AU but prior character history is mostly canon. I do not have a beta, so all mistakes are my own.

Disclaimer: All recognized characters from Supernatural are property of Eric  
Kripke/CW. All characters, references, and other things pertaining to Smallville are property of the WB, DC Comics, Tollin-Robins, Al Gough & Miles Millar, and J. Siegal & J. Shuster. I make no money for my labors, only friends.

Chloe woke up to the sound of car doors and men's voice. It was 5:30am by her watch. That was much longer than she had intended to sleep. She felt a lot better, but damn did she need a cup of coffee. Chloe got dressed bearing in mind that she would probably be tramping through the woods again today. Picking up her laptop, she slid out of her tent.

There was a group of men hanging out in front of and she assumed inside of the ranger station. She could see six of them from her camp site. If she wanted a cup of coffee, she better get in there soon. Running a hand through her short hair and brushing her teeth would have to do as her nod to personal grooming for the day. Grabbing her Q3 out of her saddle bag, she slid it into the front of her case. It was time to go make herself indispensable.

Slinging her laptop case over her shoulder she headed for the station. She had to wend her way through the group of men and one woman to get to the door. If she was single, she would be one happy camper right about now. Chloe grinned at that, happy camper ha. They were several nice looking young men in the group, come to think about it, there were several nice looking older men in the group as well.

Chloe pushed through the door and found several more strangers in the station. "Good morning Cindy" Chloe said heading for the coffee pot without waiting for an offer. She slid into the seat she had occupied yesterday and opened up her laptop. She pulled up the county map she had been marking animal corpses and suspected activity on.

"Good morning Sage" Cindy turned to greet her. "This is the young woman who went out with the guys yesterday" she told a woman standing beside her. "I am still in radio contact with the original party, but she would be able to take you to the last place she saw them".

Chloe looked up at the blonde lady Cindy was talking to. "I will help you anyway I can Ma'am" Chloe told the older lady. "Cindy, can you show me where Hank's place is on this map?"

Cindy came over and pointed to a spot on Chloe's map. The older woman followed her. "What do you have here Sage? I'm Sarah by the way".

"Once second," Chloe said taking a moment to add the new location to her map. "She turned her laptop towards Sarah. These are all of the points of interest that I have so far. Red dots are known kill locations. Yellow dots are areas of suspected activity. The red dotted lines are places that I have seen LAMBs tracks. The yellow dotted lines are areas that I suspect he would have to have traveled through based of red dots and eye witness accounts. I can't be too sure of the accuracy at this point. I really don't have enough data to make really good predictions".

"LAMB?" Sarah asked.

"Large Ass Monster Bear, I figured LAMB was less likely to scare the tourists" Chloe quipped. Several people in the room chuckled.

"Print me off a copy of that map" she said.

"Yes Ma'am" Chloe said. "Would you like to see the photographs of the K9 attacks?"

When she nodded Chloe showed her pretty much everything she had. Project 'make yourself useful' was in full swing, Chloe was pleased with herself. Tech people were almost always welcome in emergency situations. Give the appearance of making order out of chaos and people rarely sent you packing. Cindy gave her a few more locations to add to her map and Chloe made a few alterations to her predictions.

Chloe plugged into the printer and set a couple copies of her map printing. When Sarah took a copy of the map and headed over to look at it by the parks map table some of the other people came over to look at the pictures. Everyone looked grim after seeing her information.

"Is that your hand miss?" asked an older gentleman. He was a couple inches taller than Chloe with long graying black hair. He had a beaded necklace on that gave her a hint of his Native American heritage, though his completion was pale like hers.

"Yes it is" she answered. He held his hand up in front of him palm facing her. Chloe figured he was either about to say How, or more likely he wanted to see how big her hand was. Chloe placed her hand palm to palm with his larger one and saw he brow draw together. "I know, LAMB is a big boy. I'm Sage."

"Joseph" he replied.

Chloe poured herself another coffee and waited patiently. She was on her way to the bottom of her forth cup when Sarah stood up. Sarah asked the people outside to come in and spoke to the room in general. "Okay we have lots of dead animals, a really mean big bear and a missing man out there. I want everyone to stay in sight of each other as much as possible. Do not go off by yourself if you can help it. If you brought your riffle with you bring it along. We will be heading out in 20min. This young lady will be taking us to the last known location of the missing man. There are three men known to be out there looking for our missing man that we are in contact with. Please do not shoot the sheriff and his team".

Chloe muffled her phone by holding it against her leg when it rang halfway through her speech. She saw she had a missed call from an unknown number. Chloe didn't answer her phone unless she knew who it was. If the DDS somehow got a hold of her phone, then they wouldn't verify it was her by her voice. Chloe packed up her laptop and slung it over her shoulder. She headed to her site to grab a few snacks for the hike, just in case.

When she turned the corner she noticed that there was a rusty old car parked behind her bike and a shaggy bearded man sitting at her picnic table. Chloe walked up with a smile on her face.

"Uncle Bobby?" she said softly. He nodded and Chloe walked over and hugged him for appearances sake. His return hug was stiff and awkward. "Sorry gotta make it look good. Was that you that just called?"

"Yep. So you're the girl who has Sam turned inside out? You do know he has his head so far up his ass worrying over you, that he is a danger to both himself and his brother?" Bobby said.

"Did they tell you why I am out here? I am trying to protect Sam by staying away" Chloe answered. "I won't go to him until I am sure I am not bringing uninvited guests".

"They told me that you were in trouble. I don't like that Sam is tied up in whatever mess you have made of your life" Bobby replied.

"I understand if you don't like me Sir. Unfortunately, right now you have time to find out what is going on, or yell at me. Pick one" Chloe said

"You got spunk for sure, I'll give you that. Okay tell me what's going on" Bobby said.

Chloe gave him the readers digest version of events. She left him to look at the pictures while she pulled on her walking shoes and packed a few bags of nuts and trail mix in the front pocket of her knapsack.

"The organizer told everyone to bring a gun along if they had one with them" She told Bobby.

"Alright" Bobby opened his trunk and pulled out a riffle and a bag that he slung over his shoulder. "You have a gun Sage?"

Chloe held up her tazer and he snorted. "You know how to fire a gun?"

"My cousin showed me how to fire her Glock and riffle. Said I shouldn't live in a house with a gun I didn't know how to shoot. I am not saying I am a good shot, but I won't shoot you by accident. I am planning on buying a gun after this. My tazer does fine against a man, not sure I want to try it out against a bear" Chloe said.

Bobby grunted and dug around the bottom of his trunk. He pulled out a hand gun and a holster. "Never did like this one too much anyway. Too small for my hand, should do fine for you. I want you to keep it. Maybe Sam will calm down if he knows you are armed".

Chloe slid her belt though the holster and buckled it around her waist. She drew the gun and made sure it was loaded and spent a moment familiarizing herself with it. It was a nice little semi-automatic, it fit comfortably the grip wasn't too large for her hand. She put it back in the holster and took a box of bullets that Bobby was holding out. She put a handful of rounds into her knapsack and opened up her saddle bag to stow the rest. She would need to pick up a least one more magazine if this was going to be her primary weapon. She would have to see how well it worked for her before spending the cash.

Chloe unlocked her glove box and pulled out the pen she kept in there. She walked over to Bobby and unscrewed the pen opening the body of it up. Holding out her hand she upended the base of the pen and poured several diamonds into the palm of her hand. She pushed two to the side and put the others back. Chloe handed to diamonds to Bobby. It was like trading moonbeams for fairy dust, she had no idea what the value was on either.

"For the gun, thank you for saving me from having to figure out how to buy one. I can't exactly use my name any paperwork. I hope that will cover the cost." Chloe said.

"Where did you get all those diamonds girl?" Bobby asked suspiciously.

Chloe sighed. "They are not hot. I swear that to you. When I left home a friend of mine did everything he could to help me out. He didn't have much cash on him to give me. But he had this bike and the diamonds. It was all he could give me without getting flagged by the Feds."

"Good friend you got there" Bobby said still looking suspicious.

"He is one of the best. I miss him a lot" Chloe replied. "I haven't done much with the diamonds. Not really sure how to use them yet. I gave a couple of the bigger ones to my friend who upgraded the bike for me and gave me the cash I have been living off. The ones I just gave to you are the only other ones I have spent. I am thinking of them more as an insurance policy for if I get mugged or something".

"Well that's not gonna do you much good if you carry them with you. What if someone takes off with your bike" Bobby said. He didn't say you idiot on the end but he may as well have.

"I have more hidden away somewhere," Chloe said uncomfortably. Damn Chloe could tell he was not sure he trusted her at all. She was hoping to win him over, but Chloe was fairly certain he was not going be easy for her to make friends with. Well she could deal with that. She needed help, not someone to hold her hand.

"The search and rescue team will be leaving in 5min. I am going to the ladies room. Then I will be ready to go" Chloe filled her water bottles and set them on the picnic table, then ran to the restroom. Chloe wasn't sure what she was going to do. Bobby didn't like her one bit. He was really important to Sam. Chloe really wanted to get along with him. She could see his point in a way. Sam had been worrying incessantly about her being out on the road alone. It was taking his mind off the job and putting both the men he cared about in danger.

Here she was this woman that Bobby didn't know. This woman that Sam had met once and now said he was in love with. He had to be wondering if she really cared for Sam or was stringing him along. They had planned to drop through Smallville whenever they were close and had time. Unfortunately, that had not come to pass before the DDS rearranged her life. So, Chloe and Sam both were bundles of unresolved feelings. The physical chemistry between them was staggering.

They were already half way to being in love before he left. After months of daily phone calls, emails and texts, Chloe knew she was head over heals for the man. She had spent an absolutely embarrassing about of time staring at his picture on her desktop. Lois had teased her mercilessly about it. The infatuation she had felt with Clark felt pale in comparison. She had to admit that Sam's body was a powerful attractant, the man was smoking hot sexy. But it was his mind she fell in love with as the months passed. Clark was an intelligent man as well, but he rarely chose to expand it. Sam was brilliant and loved learning with the same passion that Chloe did. He was inquisitive, insightful and loved a mystery just like she did. They fit together smoothly. Chloe wanted to see him again almost as much as she wanted her next breath.

Well, there was time to deal with that later. She washed her hands and face and then headed back to her camp site. Her phone rang just as she made it back.

"Hello"

"Good morning Chloe" Sam said.

"Sam!" Chloe felt tons better just hearing his voice. "God it is so good to hear you hon. How are things going in Florida?" Chloe smiled at Bobby and leaned against the table picking up her water bottles and sliding them into the inside pocket of her knapsack.

"Things are going fine. Has Bobby made it there yet?" Sam asked.

"Yes love, he is standing right beside me. The search and rescue team is heading out in just a few minutes to look for the missing guy. They asked me to lead them out to where I left the guys yesterday. I have my Q3 with me today and we will be going by both of the sites. I'll try and scan them while we are out there".

"I want you to be very careful. Let the team take the lead. You stay in the back where it is safe" he told her.

"Trust me Sam; I have no intention of being a snack for LAMB. I am going to make sure someone is with me all the time" she swore. "I promise Sam, I won't take stupid risks".

"Is Bobby going with you?" Sam asked.

"Not positive but I think so yes" Chloe replied. "He gave me a hand gun, so I am better off than I was yesterday".

"Good, you know how to use it" he asked.

Chloe rolled her eyes snorting. "For Pete sake Sam, I am not helpless you know. Yes I know how to shoot a gun. You are very sweet to worry about me, but Bobby is here with me now. I want you to trust him and I to take care of this and concentrate on what you are doing down there. You have a much more dangerous situation than we do. What I need more than anything is for you to stay safe and to come back to me". Finally Bobby smiled at her. It wasn't much of a smile, but hell she would take it.

"Let me talk to Bobby" Sam said. Chloe rolled her eyes and handed her phone to Bobby. "He wants to talk to you. We need to get back to the station Bobby so tell him to knock it off and that I am okay".

Bobby took the phone and walked over to the road that led through camp. Chloe sat on her picnic table watching him talk. By the look on his face he was not any happier with Sam than he was with her. Chloe sighed. Life was never simple. Bobby came back over and handed her the phone.

"Hey Sam"

"Chloe I'm sorry, you are right. I should trust you two to know if you are safe or not. I just worry about you a lot" Sam said repentantly. Oh man Bobby must have really ripped him a new one. Chloe grinned at Bobby who smiled back.

"It's okay sweetheart. I know you worry. I promise I won't let anything happen to Bobby" she said with a wink.

Sam laughed. "See that you don't. I really care about that grumpy old bastard".

"Love you Sam. Just hold on for me a bit longer and we can be together again" Chloe said. "I really should go. I will talk to you tonight if you aren't busy. Please at least text me you are okay. I really don't like it when you guys are messing around with witches or voodoo".

"Everything is fine here. We think we have it figured out. I will talk to you soon, bye sweetheart".

Chloe hung up with a sigh. "You really must have given him what for. He didn't lecture me at all" Chloe chuckled.

"That I did, and your turn is coming later when we have more time" he said.

Chloe winced. "Gee thanks for the warning. Anticipating it is going to make this day so much more fun than it already is".

She got another smile for that bit of sarcasm. "Glad I could help" he said.

Chloe and Bobby headed over to join the search and rescue group. Just before they joined them Bobby put his hand on her arm to hold her back.

Chloe stopped and looked up at him waiting to see what he wanted.

"You stay with me today okay. I don't want you getting out of sight. You are my responsibility" Bobby said.

Chloe arched an eyebrow at her. "And just what did Sam make you promise?"

Bobby smile, "He told me you were a smart one. To protect you with my life".

"How about we protect each other with massive amounts of fire power instead? I am really not interested in your life. Deal?"

Bobby laughed outright. "Deal".

"I promise you, I've got your back. This isn't my first time to the prom. The music may be different, but the steps are the same".

Sarah gave Bobby a bit of trouble about joining their group. Then Bobby pointed at Chloe and said. "See that girl over there, she is my niece. Where she goes I go, end of discussion".

"You know how to use that riffle?" Sarah asked.

"Chances are Ma'am; I am the best shot you got. I've been hunting for years" Bobby said with a straight face.

Chloe hid her smile in a cough. She turned and poured herself another cup of coffee to gain time for composure. When she turned around Sarah was looking at her.

"You know how to shoot that?' She asked Chloe.

"Chances are Ma'am, I am the worst shot you got" Chloe said with a grin. "It's just for self protection. I do know how to shoot it and I promise I'm not going to shoot any of the good guys".

Sarah looked at her for a long moment then turned and walked away. "Alright, we are going to have two teams. I am leader of Team one and Joseph will be leading team two. We will start out as one group and move up to the target area. I want radio on at all times. Group seconds check in with each other every 15 minutes. Everyone will be with your normal teams. Team one will rendezvous with the Sherriff's group of three. Team two will take Sage and Bobby. Do not, I repeat do NOT attempt to hunt down the LAMB. To those of you who didn't hear earlier that is the name Miss Sage has given our predator. It stands for Large Ass Monster Bear. So keep in mind what it really is out there with us in the woods. Today is rescue or retrieval only."

Chloe pulled out her Q3 and set it to check for EMF. She passed it to Bobby saying she would be in the lead on the way past the dog sites. Bobby nodded and stuck the Q3 in his pocket. The Q3 was about half the size of the Q2 and had more functions.

Victor had designed it using the case of an out of style cell phone. He was able to get the cell phones at junk prices and use the case and some of the components as well. It was bigger than most current cell phones, but less than half the size of the EMF reader Sam and Dean were using when she met them. Doing it that way Victor made them quite cheaply. The thing even ran on cell phone batteries and used a standard charger. It stayed charged a long time too. She only had hers on while using it, so it didn't run down the battery like her cell did. Chloe knew that he had sold quite a few Q2 and Q3s through some contact he had made through the brothers. The only downside was the Q3 unlike the Q2 did not have a room temperature thermometer.

"Miss Sage, if you will take the lead please" Sarah ask.

"Absolutely," Chloe said as she started down the same path she had walked every blessed day this week so far. "Welcome to Green Stone ladies and gentlemen. Today's budget tour will not include deluxe accommodations or scenic panoramas. For you $2.75 you get the natural experience of crawling through and over underbrush, dodging falling pine cones and the chance to spot a friendly LAMB. Please stay with your scout leaders and remember a good scout is always prepared."

It wasn't that funny but some of the guys chuckled at her lame joke anyway. Chloe smiled and continued walking. As they got to the location of the first K9 incident Chloe paused very briefly. Most of the evidence was gone. Carried away by animals or cleaned up by the Rangers.

"This is K9-1 for those of you with my prediction maps. This was where we found the first dog." That is first from the parks perspective, the Sherriff was aware of things earlier than I was. She really couldn't stop to give Bobby much time to scan, but she figured he wouldn't be the only person to stop and check it out.

They started hiking again; Chloe took them down the path for about a quarter mile. LAMBs path came real close to it and they made much better time walking in the clear. Someone's phone started blaring out 'Misery Business' by Paramore and Chloe jumped about half a foot in the air.

Chloe paused and took a deep breath. "For the benefit of those of us who have already been here for three nerve racking days, if those of you with cell phones could put them on vibrate it would be appreciated."

"Sorry" someone said.

Chloe pulled out her own phone and set it to vibrate then continued down the path. Once they reached the point where she thought they needed to go back into the woods she turned.

"Give me a moment to find LAMBs trail. From here on we don't have a choice we will be in the woods" Chloe said.

Chloe turned right and started looking for LAMBs tracks. Joseph, Bobby and another guy also stepped off the path to help search. "You are looking for bear tracks about this big" Chloe gestured with her hands. About 2 or 3 minutes later Joseph called out and the group met up around him.

"Damn that is one Big bear." Someone said.

Chloe got oriented and started following the tracks like she had the previous day. She really wasn't finding it any harder to follow even though it was a day older, but then she had really learned a lot from John the day before.

Joseph came up to walk beside her while everyone else fell behind. "You are not a bad tracker Miss Sage".

Chloe blushed. Why was everyone calling her Miss Sage all of a sudden?

"I actually learned a lot yesterday from John. He is the guy we are looking for actually. He was amazing. He saw all kinds of things that I missed my first time down the trail. I am really worried for him. There is no way he would be simply lost in the woods this long" Chloe said.

Stepping into the second K9 scene was a little more gruesome. There was still part of the carcass that had not been taken by scavengers. "This would be K9-2 on your maps" Chloe said a little hoarsely. She brought out her water and took a small sip. She didn't look at Bobby not wanting to draw attention to what he was doing. She had set the Q3 for silent mode, but he still might draw attention.

Chloe barely waited this time. There was a man, hopefully still alive, waiting at the end of this nature hike. She was silent as she continued to follow the tracks through the woods. She could see glimpses of water starting to peek through the tree line to the right and knew they were getting close.

The trail turned to the left a bit here she remembered. A bloodhound would have been useful, but she didn't blame them for not bringing any dogs if they had them. Too many dogs had already died in this area.

Sarah and her group continued straight up the lakeside to meet up with the Sheriff while Chloe's group continued up into the woods. Joseph continued to follow the tracks.

"They were following the LAMB, so we will continue to do so until the tracks separate" he said.

Chloe fell back next to Bobby letting Joseph take the lead. He was obviously the better tracker. She looked up to see Bobby watching her. He motioned her to fall back with him.

"You don't have to go any further, you can head back to base camp if you want" Bobby said.

"No I'm good Bobby. I want to help. Besides, I promised Sam I would watch your back" she answered.

"Everyone saw your reaction back there on the trail. You are running on nerves and fear right now. I won't be alone out here. Joseph is a good solid man, he will take good care of his group" Bobby said.

Chloe gave Bobby a sharp look. "Of course I am afraid! I would be an idiot not to be" she hissed to him fiercely. "But there is a good man out there in trouble. Maybe me being along won't make any difference, but we can't know that for sure. I will NOT leave him out here to die".

"Everyone else here may think we are dealing with an abnormally large grizzly bear, but my gut tells me there is something much worse out here. Whatever the LAMB is, it's not natural. Most people aren't equipped to handle stuff like that. They can look right at it and not see it. My eyes are open Bobby. I won't let you down".

Bobby harrumphed but Chloe could see she had gotten through to him. His shoulders relaxed and settle down a bit, like the tension in his back had eased. "You have the heart for this job, that's for sure. Remains to be seen if you have the head for it" was all he said in response.

Chloe drew in a long breath and released it. It looked like Bobby was willing to give her a chance. That was all she asked for. She knew she wasn't a hunter, but she could help. If she was going to stay with Sam, she needed to learn to do this. She didn't want to be a burden.

There wasn't anything she could do about it right now, so she focused on the task at hand. She was no longer the tracker so she designated herself as look out. Bobby was walking on her right so she mentally designated that area as covered. She took a moment to observe the rest of their crew.

No one was attempting anything like stealth. By the guide for bear encounters she read, that was the right thing to do. It had said to make plenty of noise so the bear heard you coming and hopefully left the area. Chloe wasn't sure that was wise in this case, but she wasn't exactly sure it wasn't either. Her instincts were screaming to be quiet and unnoticed. Surely with a group this big however, the LAMB would leave them alone.

Chloe heard their radio guy make the first of their 15 min check-ins. He was absorbed it doing his job and not paying attention to the woods. She mentally counted him out of defense. He didn't have a riffle anyway.

Two of the search and rescue group were up front right behind Joseph. They were on point right and left but with their shotgun and riffle still over their shoulders. They were watchful and scanning the woods ahead as they moved.

The rest of the group was walking together behind the main three. Some of them were armed and some weren't; only one of them was actively watching the surroundings.

"So tell me who you think we can depend on" Bobby asked from side.

"You don't miss much do you" Chloe chuckled. "The two up front are watching and will probably warn us if anything happens. Joseph I am going to assume is watching as well, but he is busy tracking and probably wouldn't be the first one to notice something wrong. The radio guy is completely distracted and should be moved to the middle of the group for protection. The dark haired lady in the middle is also very aware of her surroundings, she really aught be one of the people with a gun. The rest aren't paying attention at all. I am guessing at this point that the blond guy over there will trade out with the guys up front. Once he stops trying to flirt with the girl he might be okay. You have our right flank covered and then some. I am completely slacking on watching the left, but am going to pick that up now, it's our weak spot."

"That's was pretty good. Now just watch the guy with the black baseball cap for a moment" he said.

Chloe shot Bobby a glance then nodded and tried to catch what Bobby had seen. She didn't catch it at first. Chloe kept watch on her side of the trail but kept observing the man Bobby had pointed out. Then she started to see what Bobby was.

"Oh" she said softly so she wouldn't be overheard. "He is real jumpy. He is not happy to be out here. It doesn't necessarily mean he would run if things go bad, but I wouldn't depend on him. He is more jumpy than I am. That is a sad statement. I am the one running on three days short sleep powered by nerves and caffeine. I can see now why you are worried I will bolt on you. I can tell you I won't, but until something happens you can't really trust that can you".

Bobby just nodded.

"Did you get anything on the Q3?" Chloe asked.

"There was something at the second spot, but not enough to say for sure based on that. If you had thought to check it the day of the attack we might have had something" Bobby said gruffly.

Chloe winced and accepted that for the reprimand that it was. "I can't believe I didn't think to check. I have only seen it used with spirits, but given my limited resources I should have at least tried to work with what I had" she admitted.

"You missed something else as well, something that told me that you definitely made the right call getting a hunter up here" Bobby said. Bobby held up his arm pointing to the sleeve of his jacket. It looked like he had wiped the edge of a blade over it to clean it. There was a murky yellow blackish substance on the fabric.

Chloe looked at him curiously. "What is that?" She looked at him for permission then rubbed some of the substance off with her thumb. Chloe examined it closely wrinkling her nose at the odor.

"Sulfur? Where did you find sulfur and what does that tell you?" she asked curiously, reminding herself to keep watch on the left flank even though they were talking.

"Right under the claw marks on the tree. When you find sulfur, it usually means there is a demon involved" Bobby answered.

"Demon? But I thought they possessed humans and worked through them" Chloe said.

"Usually that is true. However, there are demonic creatures with natural forms that are non human. There are also demonic spirits that prefer to reside in beasts. We could be dealing with either in this case" Bobby said.

"Okay, so what do we do to kill or stop this thing?" she asked.

"I don't know" he answered.

"What? You don't know? That was so not what I wanted to hear Bobby" Chloe said.

"I can make some guesses based on what works on human form demons. They would be just that, guesses. I would think they would be vulnerable to holy water. We might be able to exorcize it if it is a possession. Never tried that with an animal possession, so not sure if it would be effective. The host or body will be nearly invincible. Most likely it can not cross a salt line and will find it unpleasant to come in physical contact with salt" Bobby explained. "If this is its natural form however, it is less likely that any of that will work".

"What we do first is find the missing young man. Then we find a safe place and do some research" he told her.

"Now there is something I am actually good at. I will be only too happy to be back to concentrating on that" Chloe said.

They followed the group through the woods for quite a while silently side by side. Chloe examining the information Bobby had provided and sorted it onto her mental Wall of Weird. She had to agree with Bobby, her fingers were itching to get on a keyboard.

"Sage, do you recall what kind of shoes John was wearing?" Joseph asked.

"Shoes" Chloe said softly closing her eyes to better picture it. "The sheriff and his deputy are wearing something like black combat boots. They looked similar so they may be standard issue. Cameron was wearing hiking boots. I remember them because they looked brand new and expensive, like the ones you get from REI. John I don't think I remember".

Chloe kept her eyes closed picturing the day before. She pictured John crouching beside her, showing her where a branch was bent back by a passing animal. "White! The souls of his shoes were white, with a strong even zigzag pattern, probably tennis shoes".

Chloe opened her eyes to find everyone looking at her. Joseph was smiling. "Good, then we follow these tracks" he responded pointing to a toe print among the small plants on the ground, a print that had strong even zigzag.

Chloe smiled brilliantly. She was glad that she had been able to drag that out of her memory. Her brain had the tendency to store the weirdest information. For once that odd habit had come in useful. Chloe sighed in relief. She looked up and saw Bobby was watching her again with an unreadable expression. She shrugged and turned to follow the group.

The attentive dark haired lady was walking towards the back of the group this time. Chloe came up to walk beside her. Pulling her tazer out of her pocket she offered it to her. "This probably won't stop LAMB, but it might give us the extra second we need to get to you. Just make sure I get it back it was a gift from a good friend that I don't really get to see anymore".

She took it with a nod smiling. "Thank you". Chloe still wished that she had a gun, but she had done the best she could by her. Chloe's hand slid down to rest on her pistol. She was glad to have the comforting weight of the firearm against her hip.

They had been following the trail for about an hour when Chloe got a whiff of something that made her stop in her tracks. She held up her hand to stop but only Bobby and the last guy of the group saw her. Frustrated she made a soft clicking noise with her tongue. Joseph looked around in confusion until he saw her hand held up. He started to speak but she shook her head and turned her hand toward the ground and lowered it about an inch to try and signify wait here.

Chloe walked softy to Bobby and whispered in his ear. "Do you smell that?" He shook his head so Chloe indicated he should follow and walked to where she had caught a whiff and inhaled again catching a faint odor. Bobby sniffed the air and his eyebrows went up. He nodded and gave her a small smile.

Bobby walked to the front and made hand gestures to Joseph. Joseph nodded and they started moving again but much slower this time. Bobby took his riffle off his shoulders and held it in his hands as he and Joseph lead the way. Chloe watched as everyone who was armed got their weapons out. The blonde guy in the middle dropped back to take Bobby's old spot. Chloe pulled out her pistol, but left the safety on.

The group moved in complete silence following John's trail. When it was time for a radio check it seemed excessively loud to Chloe. The guy was being quiet as he could. That was when it hit Chloe, she heard nothing. There were no animals rustling in the bushes, no birds singing in the trees. Chloe thumbed off the safety on her pistol. Chloe felt the hair on the back of her neck standing up. Her weird-dar was pinging insistently and she was dreadfully certain that they were very close to LAMB, maybe too close. They didn't want to actually find the creature with all these civilians along. They had no idea how to protect them.

Chloe tapped the arm of the guy in back with her gesturing that she was headed up front. Moving as silently as she could, she walked up beside Bobby. Touching his arm lightly to get his attention she looked at him in the eyes, looked around the forest then back at him biting her lip to indicate her apprehension. He nodded. Chloe couldn't read him very well yet. His body was loose and relaxed, but his hands were tense on his riffle. This was the only indication she had that he too felt uneasy with the situation.

Chloe stepped back, but stayed behind Bobby guarding his back. She glanced behind her to see that everyone was on their guard. They continued forward cautiously, creeping along the eerily quiet forest floor.

Joseph held up his hand indicating a halt. Then Chloe heard it, off to her left the same snuffling sound she had heard two nights ago. Chloe wasn't going to try and kid herself, she was Scared! Her heart was beating so loud she was afraid that Bobby would hear it. Everyone knelt down crouching in among the foliage or against trees. Chloe slowly worked her way around behind a large tree and then leaned around it looking in the direction of the snuffling.

Then the sound of a large animal carelessly pushing through undergrowth could be heard. Chloe was no woodsman, but the thing sounded huge to her. A leaf fell down brushing against her cheek and she brushed it away. The sulfur smell that she had tasted on the wind earlier was back and stronger. Concentrating on remaining silent, she looked around for Bobby. He and Joseph were a couple of trees over from her backs against the same tree eyes peering into the wood line trying to see the creature moving near them. Another leaf drifted down right in front of her face. Just her luck to pick a tree that wanted to shed its leaves off season. When another leaf fell down to land on her hand Chloe looked up.

There about 10 feet above her perched among the branches was the very man they were all so ardently searching for. He was obviously injured. There was blood on his clothing and some had run down the bark of the tree he was resting in. His right leg looked bad. He had wrapped it up as well as he could with his flannel shit, but the fabric was soaking through with blood. He looked pale and tired, and gloriously alive. Chloe smiled brightly in relief to see him there. She had been dreadfully afraid that they would not find him alive. He smiled down at her and waved. He pointed towards the woods a little to the left of where she had last placed the creature.

Chloe nodded to him and held up one finger to indicate that he should wait. Chloe figured that he had been trapped up that tree for the better part of 12 hours now. With his leg injured he didn't dare come down out of the tree. He wouldn't make it very fast and would leave a blood trail behind him the whole way. He had no way to defend himself. He didn't seem to have his riffle with him; he must have lost it in the struggle.

Chloe looked over to Bobby and tried to get his attention. He was totally focused on the creature, but Joseph looked up at her. Chloe pointed up into the tree above her and then pointed to the sole of her shoe. Joseph looked at her in confusion. Chloe pointed to the tree above her and then pointed to the sole of her shoe and the mimed looking at the ground closely. Chloe saw when the light bulb turned on and smiled at him.

Joseph leaned close and spoke in Bobby's ear. Then the both looked at her. She, feeling a little stupid once again pointed to the tree above her. She looked around and noticed that most of the group was watching them now. From their expressions at least half of them had figured it out. Chloe looked at Bobby, pointed to John then pointed off to the left in the woods to show him that John could see the creature. She looked up questioningly but John nodded that LAMB was still over there.

The two older gentlemen made their way over to Chloe. They knelt close together whispering. Chloe indicated that everyone else should stay where they were when other people started to come closer.

"We need to get that boy out of here quickly," Bobby said after taking one look at John.

"We can't do that while LAMB is here. So we either need to wait him out, or lead him away" Chloe said.

"If his den is near, it may be a long time before he moves away. It may be night before he goes hunting" Joseph said.

"I really don't want to be out here after dark" Chloe said apprehensively.

"One of us needs to lead him away then" Bobby said.

Chloe reached into her knapsack and pulled out a bag of dried fruit as quietly as she could. "Do you think he is an omnivore like regular bears?"

Bobby took the bag. "Worth a try, better than using myself for bait" He said looking at them. "Just give me about 20 min to lead him away from here, then get that boy and the rest of this group out of here."

"I am going with you" Chloe whispered. She glanced up at John and he pointed to the same location and made an OK with his fingers.

"You are not" Bobby replied. "You are going to get this group out of here and get back to safety".

"Bobby I promised Sam I would look out for you. I am supposed to watch your back" she said.

"Rule number one is civilians always come first. I need you to get them out of here, if I am not back in 8 hours call Sam" Bobby said. "Do not come back out here alone, wait for the boys". Bobby gave her a fierce look that did not invite discussion".

"Yes Sir" she replied. She didn't like it but she knew he was right. He probably had a better chance alone. Chloe offered a bag of trail mix and her pistol to Bobby knowing he would need all the fire power he could get if he was leading this thing alone. He took the trail mix but frowned at her over the pistol. She shrugged and didn't press the point.

They all settled in to quietly wait. Chloe glanced at her watch to mark the 20 minutes that Bobby had asked for. Every few minutes she would glance up at John to see if LAMB had moved off. They could still hear him snuffling and moving around in the bush. After about 11 minutes John pointed off to the left more and indicated walking with his fingers. He smiled in relief. He started to move like he was going to climb down the tree but Chloe motioned him to wait. Once the full twenty minutes was up Chloe indicated that the group should gather. One of the guys pulled out a rope and tossed it up to John.

John looped the rope over a thick branch above him then tied it under his arms before trying to climb down with one leg hanging uselessly. In the end, two of the guys had to hold the rope and slowly lowered him down to the ground. The dark haired woman pulled out medical supplies and wrapped up his leg quickly. It would have to be redone later, but now they just wanted to get him out of there before he bleed to death or LAMB came over to say hi.

With two of them supporting him, they made their way out of the woods as quickly as possible. Joseph moved her up to his right side and sent two of the guys to the back of the group. Chloe figured he was trying to keep her out of what he thought was the most dangerous position. John stumbled along the best that he could but he was fighting a losing battle. His head hung down limply in front of him as the men on either side half carried him through the trees. By the time there were far enough out to safely make a radio check Sarah was frantic, then livid, then relieved when she found out that they had John.

The two groups met up on the trail. Sarah's group was waiting for them with a collapsible stretcher already unpacked and assembled. John laid down on it with a groan of relief. Now that they were on the path there was room to carry him. They made good time out of the forest from that point on. Sarah called ahead to the ranger station and there was an ambulance waiting at the end of the hiking trail to pick up John.

Chloe turned and stared back into the woods. She hoped and prayed that Bobby was okay. She wanted to try his cell phone, but didn't want to give away his location if he was hiding from LAMB. The rest of the team started walking down the road to the ranger station, but Chloe just stood there waiting for him. Chloe glanced at her watch. It had taken them over an hour to get back to the end of the trail, almost an hour and a half. Carrying John had slowed them down some. Bobby would have to back track carefully, but it was reasonable to expect him anytime from now to two hours from now.

Someone cleared their throat and a hand came down to rest on her shoulder. "He will come. He has the skill to evade the LAMB. Staring at the path will not make him come any sooner. He may not even come back in this way." Joseph said.

"I know, I am just worried about him" Chloe replied.

"Let us go back to your camp site; surely he will look for you there or at the station when he returns. The most important thing to your uncle was that you were here safe." Joseph said taking her arm and leading her back to the campground.

"I know you are right Joseph, but what am I going to do if he doesn't come back" she asked softly.

"Then we will go get him, you and I" he replied.


	5. Chapter 5

**Evasion – 5/?**

By Deliciously Weird

Pairing: Chloe/Sam

Characters: Chloe Sullivan, Bobby Singer, Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester, Bobby Singer, OCs

Rating: This is an adult fiction, it is not appropriate for children of any age. (Adult Language, Violence, off screen death and Sexual situations)

Series: At Home in Your Heart – Book 2 (Book 1 - Ineffable)

Description: Truly alone for the first time in her life, Chloe tries to cope while being hunted.

Warnings: Spoilers for up to season 8 Smallville and up to season 3 supernatural. This is AU but prior character history is mostly canon. I do not have a beta, so all mistakes are my own.

Disclaimer: All recognized characters from Supernatural are property of Eric  
Kripke/CW. All characters, references, and other things pertaining to Smallville are property of the WB, DC Comics, Tollin-Robins, Al Gough & Miles Millar, and J. Siegal & J. Shuster. I make no money for my labors, only friends.

Chloe sat on the top of her picnic table and fretted. Her feet drummed a rhythm on the bench seat beneath them. It had been over an hour since they returned with John, but Bobby still had not returned. The search and rescue team had hung around waiting to make sure he came back. Sarah had told Chloe that they would wait for her uncle before departing.

Chloe was really starting to get worried about him. She had promised Bobby that she would wait for the brothers before going back in after him. How could she even think of keeping that promise? It could be days before the brothers could make it up here. Chloe was torn with indecision.

Joseph walked over to her camp site carrying food. He set down a bowl of soup and some kind of sandwich beside her. She really didn't want it. Her stomach was tied in knots.

"Eat it even if you don't want it. I know you have not eaten today. If we have to go back into the forest I will not take you if you have not eaten. You would have us postpone the search while you finish your meal?" Joseph harassed her.

Chloe rolled her eyes and slid down to sit on the bench the way it was designed for. Joseph sat down across from her. She slowly ate the soup. Chloe wasn't sure her stomach would tolerate the sandwich just yet.

"So you want to tell me what is actually going on here?" Joseph asked in a serious voice.

Chloe glanced up at him sharply. "I don't know what you mean".

"Don't treat me like I have no eyes in my head. Something is very off here and you and your uncle know what it is" Joseph said.

"I am telling you the truth when I say we really don't know what this thing is" Chloe answered. She could tell that this was not an answer that would satisfy him. "Joseph, will you drop it if I tell you it will be taken care of. Whatever it is, we will figure it out and take care of it".

Joseph nodded, "But what if your uncle does not return, who will stop this then?"

"I swear to you, that if something should happen to Bobby and me, others will come to finish it" Chloe said steadily. She knew she could swear that without a doubt. If something happened to them the brothers would come looking right away. "Leave it be and let us handle this, please."

"I will let it go as you request, but I will be watching to make sure it is done" Joseph said.

"Take my mind off waiting for Bobby please. Teach me some of what you know. You are a far better tracker than I am" Chloe said partly to distract herself and partly to close the conversation. Joseph made her eat the rest of the soup and half the sandwich. Then he started talking.

Chloe got her laptop out of her saddlebags and started taking notes on all the things that he was telling her. He told her about the patterns of nature and how to avoid being scented by the creatures in the forest. He explained how a person's weight or age might be determined by their footprints. He told her the difference of a person walking or running down a path. Chloe had mainly asked just to keep herself from fretting, but by the time he had been talking for 15 minutes she was fascinated. Before too long one of his team members came and listened in as well.

He then had one of the other members of his team demonstrate by having him walk, run and then limp down a path. Then he had his students turn their backs and used a leafy branch to clear the path and set new tracks for them several times using different members of the team. Chloe was proud when she got the answers right more often than not.

"Well I am glad to see you are putting your time to good use Sage" said a very welcome voice behind her.

Chloe jumped in surprise and then whirled around and threw her arms around his neck. "I was so worried about you" she said in a reprimanding voice. She had obviously surprised the gruff man for he sputtered and blushed.

"You know I can take care of myself girl" Bobby said.

"You couldn't call me and let me know you were okay? Joseph has been at his wits end distracting me". Chloe crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot glaring at him.

Joseph cut in before they could argue. "What is important is that you are out safe. Sage has promised me that you two will make sure this situation is taken care of. It is time for my group to head home. It was nice meeting you both".

"I'll walk up with you and say goodbye" Chloe said. Chloe and Bobby headed up to the Ranger station to say goodbye to the group. Bobby didn't say much but Chloe made sure to say goodbye to everyone on team two. She got her tazer back and thanked the dark haired woman. Chloe doubted that she would ever see Oliver again; it was nice to have his gift to remember him by. She went to find Bobby in the station when she was done.

They walked together back to Chloe's camp site in the warm afternoon air. Chloe thought longingly of a shower. She felt hot and dirty after the long morning in the woods. The camp bathrooms shouldn't be too crowded this time of day.

"Pack everything up Sage," Bobby said when they got to her site. "We are moving to a better location".

Chloe really wanted to say something about him taking control of things and ordering her about. She reminded herself that she was trying to get into his good graces and started packing with a sigh. She really couldn't blame him for not wanting to camp out with LAMB out there and a hotel room would give them privacy to talk freely about the situation. Chloe was very curious what he had seen out in the woods alone, but she contained her curiosity. This really wasn't a private place to talk. It didn't take long to pack her meager belongings. When they got to the hotel, she was so going to make him wait while she took a very long shower.

"Ready to go," Chloe told Bobby once she strapped her tent on the luggage rack. He nodded and got into his car and pulled out of the site. To her surprise he drove deeper into the park instead of pulling out. Chloe followed him curiously until she figured out where they were heading and had to laugh.

She parked beside his car in front of cabin four. While she didn't think anyone else would want to stay in this cabin, it was more or less ideal for them. It placed them were they could observe the area that LAMB was roaming in, and gave them a lot more protection than staying in tents. Chloe decided to take her tent in with her. It was the only thing she couldn't lock up on the bike. She filled her knapsack with a couple changes of clothes and grabbed her shower bag and laptop case.

The cabin was fairly nice. It had a tiny full service kitchen, bathroom and a great room with a fireplace with a couch in front of it, a table for six and two sets of bunk beds against the back wall. It felt like a palace to Chloe.

"Do you mind if I grab a shower before we get started?" Chloe asked Bobby.

"No take your time, I will go out and grab us something for dinner. We can get started when I get back" Bobby said heading out the door.

Chloe took him at his word and basked in a long hot shower. God this is heaven Chloe thought. It was amazing how much you learned to appreciate a little thing like a private bathroom after weeks without. She finally dragged herself out of the shower and pulled on a halter top and shorts. She had worn jeans this morning to protect her legs in the brush, but it was a relief to wear something that was more appropriate to the weather.

Chloe filled the ice cube tray in the freezer so they would have ice later. She found the cabinets stocked with plates and glasses. She poured a cup of water and took at seat at the kitchen table with her laptop. Chloe started an internet search on animal possession and demonic animals. The first thing she found was on Hellhounds, they looked rather nasty. Obviously not what she was looking for, but the information she found indicated that they fit many of her search criteria. Her initial impression after reading about them was that there was a good chance they were dealing with a demonic animal.

Finding information on animal possession was a good bit more frustrating. She kept getting sites on what permits you needed to keep a wild animal. It was interesting information, but not helpful in any way. Who would want a lemur in their house anyway she wondered.

Bobby came in carrying some grocery bags. It looked like he intended them to eat in mostly. That was fine by Chloe; it gave them more time to work on the LAMB problem. Chloe got up and helped him carry things in from his car. There were only a couple more bags of groceries, but there were 3 boxes of books in his back seat that he wanted brought in. Most of the books were old and leather bound, these must be his research books. Chloe's fingers were itching to touch them. There wealth of knowledge in these books must be amazing.

Bobby pulled out a whole roasted chicken and a tub of potato salad. Chloe got plates and silverware out. She unpacked the groceries while he ate dinner. She told him she had eaten earlier and would get some when she was done. She sat down and nibbled on some of the chicken until he was done. He seemed to have accepted her for the time being. He was being polite mostly. He had flat out ordered her to stay here with him. If he was going to give her a chance, she was not going to waste it. When he had finished eating she cleared the table, and then sat down waiting for him to start.

He told her about what had happened that afternoon. He had gone out a ways and laid a path of the fruit back towards LAMB hoping that he would follow it. Once he was sure that LAMB was indeed going to take the bait, he went ahead and laid out more of the fruit for him to find leading him away from the group. He led LAMB through a small clearing with the trail. Bobby got there before him and climbed up into a tree on the far side of the clearing hoping to get a good look at the creature. Unfortunately, LAMB wouldn't come out into the open. He stopped at the edge of the woods, but he got a fairly good look at him anyway. He confirmed most of the description the hysterical dog owner had given. LAMB was huge, about half again the size a grizzly should be. He looked to be mostly furless with black skin and hair. Bobby said the stench of sulfur was even stronger near him.

"It's not like anything that I have run across before," he admitted. "He wandered off into the woods so I followed his trail back. It appears that he is denned up near where we found John. He is sleeping under the roots of a fallen oak tree. He is burrowed up in the hole the root ball left when it fell with the roots providing cover for him. The stench of sulfur is strong there. It's all over the den. One good spark and the forest would catch fire".

"If we had tried to wait him out we would all still be out there" Chloe said.

Bobby nodded.

"I couldn't find much information online so far on animal possession, but I did find some on demonic animals. The one that had the most matching factors was something called a Hellhound" Chloe said. "My instincts are telling me that this is a demonic creature we are dealing with and not a possession. Not sure how much my instinct is worth here, but it served me well when I was a reporter".

"Hellhounds are horrible creatures. They are the servants of upper level demons. When someone makes a deal for their soul, it is the Hellhounds that come to rip the soul out and drag it down to hell" Bobby told her.

Chloe shivered, "They don't sound pleasant at all".

"We will follow your hunch and look into demonic animals first. I have the same feeling you do. We have to start somewhere anyway. What languages do you read?" Bobby said.

"Languages? Well English, Spanish and a little Latin" Chloe stammered.

She didn't think that Kryptonian counted in this case. Not that she was exactly fluent in Kryptonian, but it was better than her Latin. Here was one place she was hoping to feel competent. Research was what she excelled at, and yet it appeared she didn't even read the language.

Bobby grumbled and set four books in front of her. "See how you get along with these".

Checking her books Chloe found she had two in English, one in Spanish and one in Latin. She opened the one on top first and started reading in English. She pulled her laptop next to her and opened a document to take notes in.

It wasn't too long before Chloe was buried inside her books. She wasn't having any trouble at all concentrating. Her problem was staying focused. There was a wealth of information here and she was completely fascinated. If given her preference she would have been reading through every one of these books slowly to obtain the knowledge within them. The sat there at the kitchen table reading silently together for hours.

Chloe didn't make a big deal of it, but her memory was exceptional. She rarely forgot something that she had read. It was a big part of the reason she was so good at investigating. She made connections to obscure facts in her head that you wouldn't necessarily research for the project at hand.

"Mice? Demonic mice?" Chloe blinked at the page in front of her. "Surely I am mistranslating this".

Bobby looked up at and shrugged, then went back to reading.

Chloe pulled up a Spanish-English dictionary on the internet. Yeah the word was mice. Chloe really wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh or cry about that one. It was actually all kinds of creepy thinking of demonic mice in your walls. She sighed and went back to reading. If everything she was reading was real, then her world was about to get about 300% more freaky. Chloe began to wonder what kind of world she was getting herself into. Normally she wasn't the kind of person to turn a blind eye to something just because she didn't want to believe it was true. The more she read however the more she started to fervently hope for a case of spontaneous ocular failure.

"I haven't found anything with bears yet. I have found a sort of animal shape shifter however. It doesn't quite fit out MO, but it's the best match I have so far" Bobby said. He went to the kitchen and got a bowl of ice cream. He sat back down rubbing the back of his neck. "It's getting late, why don't we pick this back up in the morning".

Chloe glanced at her watch. "Wow I didn't realize that it was so late" Chloe said. Chloe stretched and marked her place in the Spanish book. "This seems to be the most relevant text that you gave me so far. I have been through both the English ones, but haven't touched the one in Latin".

"What have you got there?" Bobby asked.

"Well it seems to be a compendium of sorts. A list if you will of supernatural creatures. If even half of these are real, I may never sleep again. How reliable are these texts. How do we know what is real and what is legend?" Chloe asked.

"Sometimes we don't know something is real until we come across it. There have been things that I was certain were old wives tales that I have come face to face with. There are some resources that are more dependable than others, but in our line of work you never can tell where you will find the answers you need" he explained.

"How do you function like that?" she asked.

"Don't disbelieve anything but only believe what you know to be true" was Bobby's advice.

Chloe nodded, she could see the sense in that. Chloe looked at her watch again. It was getting late and Sam had not called her yet. She was starting to get a little concerned.

"I wonder why Sam hasn't called" she worried aloud. "He always calls me at night just before bed time.

"You talked to him this morning. I wouldn't worry about it; you know they are on a case".

"Yes and he knows I would worry if I didn't hear from him. Also, he knows that I am on a case and I can't imagine he would miss our call if he could help it" Chloe said biting her thumb nail.

"You have a point there girl, but nothing we can do about it right now. If he could call he would. He probably just isn't in a place he can talk. There is nothing to be done about it now anyway. If we don't hear from them by the time we are done here, we will go look for them" Bobby said. "If you want to hunt, you have to take the responsibility seriously girl".

Chloe nodded. "You are right. It won't stop me from worrying, but we have a job to do and that comes first". Chloe reopened the book she had been studying and worked her way through it laboriously. One thing was certain, if she kept this up her Spanish was going to improve a lot. She couldn't skim the information as quickly as she could in English. She needed to read, translate in her head and then decide if it was pertinent information. She had made her way through a bobcat that ate children and was reading about a water snake when her phone rang.

"Hello".

"Hey Princess, good to hear your voice".

"Dean? How are things going there? Why are you calling me and not Sam?" she asked worried.

"Sam ended up taking a hip deep walk through part of the swamp. He is in the shower getting cleaned up. We have to head right back out afterwards, so I thought I would be the one to talk to the beautiful lady for once" he said making Chloe laugh.

"Are you ever gonna give it up Dean, you know my heart belongs to your brother" Chloe said teasingly.

"A man can dream can't he beautiful? I just wanted to call so you wouldn't worry and find out how things are going down there. Sammy is worried about you two" Dean said.

"Just Sam huh, you aren't worried at all? Ya big softie. Well tell Sam that we are doing just fine up here. We are in a nice safe sturdy wood cabin doing research. We have no plans to set foot out the door again tonight. So tell him to keep his head in the job. Bobby is taking good care of me" Chloe said.

He asked her about the case and she filled him in on what they had so far in research. Once she had caught him up she asked about their case. He told her that they were hunting a voodoo practitioner but were still working on figuring out who it was.

"You take care handsome, I wouldn't want anything to happen to you either" Chloe said affectionately. Dean may come across as a heartless playboy, but in truth he was kind of a sweetheart.

"I will Princess".

"Give Sam my love. Bye Dean"

She turned to Bobby and filled him in on the other side of the conversation. He had looked concerned when she and Dean were talking about the Voodoo practitioner. Chloe yawned and grinned at Bobby apologetically.

"Sorry I haven't had good nights sleep lately. I think I am going to hit the sack. Don't worry about keeping me awake. I am so tired I could sleep through just about anything. Goodnight Bobby and thank you for coming to help me. I really appreciate you being here".

"Good night Sage" Bobby said gruffly.

Chloe changed into her sleep clothes and climbed into one of the bottom bunks. The bed felt like absolute heaven, she was asleep within moments.

Chloe woke to bright morning sunshine and someone knocking on the door. Seeing that Bobby was still asleep, Chloe stumbled out of bed as quickly as she could hoping to stop whoever it was from knocking again.

"Cindy?" Chloe said when she saw her standing on their porch looking worn and upset.

"Sage, I was wondering if I could talk to you and Bobby" Cindy requested.

"Sure just let me throw on something decent, Bobby is still asleep" Chloe said.

"No he's not!" said a grumpy voice from inside.

Chloe giggled and grinned at Cindy. "Could you give us a couple minutes to get dressed? I'll be right back".

When Cindy nodded Chloe went back in and grabbed some clothes. "Ranger is here, wants to talk to us" she told Bobby before heading into the bathroom to change.

By the time she had gotten dressed and washed up quickly Bobby had already let Cindy in and has started a pot of coffee. Chloe took a seat across from Cindy. Bobby came over with a box of doughnuts and sat down beside Chloe.

"What can we do for you today Ma'am?" Bobby asked.

"Look I don't know what to do. I don't know who you two are, but you seem to have a better understanding of what is going on here. I mean the dogs were bad enough but. . ." she broke off shaking her head.

"Listen Ranger, whatever is going on we will do our best to help you out. But we can't do that unless we know what is going on. It would help if you would tell me what has happened" Bobby said calmly.

Cindy looked at Bobby for a long moment then sighed. Her eyes wandered back and caught Chloe's. She seemed more at ease directing her comments to the other woman.

"Just tell me what has you upset Cindy. Take you time" Chloe said. Chloe poured coffee for all three of them and sat down to listen to what the Ranger had to say.

"Tom got a call from the Sheriff first thing this morning. Hank Rafferty is dead. He,…. something got him out on his land. We had put out a warning to the local farmers to be careful and have closed down at the hiking trails. Most of the farmers have pulled their livestock into close pasture. Hank has had it worse than anyone else. He has lost almost a dozen sheep. I don't think that would have been enough to make him go out on the back of his property. But when Apache went missing, well she is his best herding dog. He loved that dog something fierce. He went out late yesterday afternoon. Apache came limping in this morning with a bitten leg. The sheriff found Hank out on the back of his property. It looks like LAMB got to him; there were tracks all around him. His riffle was found nearby completely empty. Sheriff guesses that Hank saved Apache but couldn't escape LAMB himself" Cindy said.

"What kind of rifle was it? Was Hank a good shot?" Bobby asked.

"I don't know what kind of rifle, but Hank was a decent shot. He went hunting all the time. Kept his family in meat between that and the livestock" Cindy said.

"Do you think we would be allowed on the property to take a look?" Bobby asked.

"I am fairly sure I could get Sage out there. She has been taking pictures and documenting stuff for us already. If she was quiet and just did the job I am sure the sheriff would just let her be" Cindy said.

"Well I won't let her go alone anywhere," Bobby said. "But I will stay back and do my best not to draw notice".

"Alright, let's take the truck. The more official we look the least likely we are to draw notice" Cindy said.

Chloe packed up her lap top case remembering to slide her Q3 into the front pocket. She sent Sam a text letting him know that she would be out investigating with Bobby and wouldn't be able to call him. Chloe poured herself a cup of coffee and carried it with her out the door. It looks like today wasn't going to be a relaxing day after all.

Chloe was dreading going out to Hank's farm. It wasn't that she hadn't seen a dead body before. She was pretty sure however that this was going to be the most gruesome one. She had felt a little sick when she had seen the mutilated corpses of the dogs, she hoped that she would be able to hold it together when it was a man.

When they pulled up into the yard of the farm house Chloe felt an ache of familiarity. How many times had she driven out to the Kent farm? She would give a lot to see Clark walk out of that Barn and be there to support her through this. It was times like this that she really missed the life she had to let go.

Bobby was here with her though. Even though they were not as yet friends, she had the feeling that he was a man she could count on. He was gruff, but he pointed her in the right direction and let her figure things out for herself. His gentle guidance had made her feel at home for the first time in her new life. Having someone to count on and having a purpose made her new life seem like a real life for the first time.

They followed Cindy out through the fields. The stands of trees were sparse on his property. Chloe was not knowledgeable enough to determine if that was the nature of the fields or they had been cleared. She started to wish that she thought to grab her water bottle; the back forty on this property was much further than on the Kent Farm.

Bobby didn't speak much during the walk. Chloe had notice that he didn't talk much when other people were around. It was only when they were alone that he seemed to relax. Chloe heard men's voices talking before she saw them. She thought she recognized the Sheriffs voice. Once they topped the rise she realized she had been correct.

The Sheriff, his deputy and another man in uniform were standing out there along with a man that had the look of a farmer. They were looking at something on the ground. Chloe took a deep breath. You can do this Chloe; just look at the facts not the man. That was usually what she did when she felt overwhelmed. If she could concentrate on individual details, then the larger picture faded away.

Chloe pulled out her phone and followed Cindy to where the men were standing. Bobby stayed behind them both standing watch quietly. He had his riffle over his shoulder, but Chloe doubted that anyone would question a man going armed right now. Chloe had left her pistol locked in her saddlebag.

"Sage is going to document the incident for us. She knows not to touch anything" Cindy said by way of greeting. The Sheriff nodded but kept a close eye on her while she was working. Bobby stayed standing by the other men. His eyes were keeping watch on the tree line beside the field. Chloe would guess that this was where his property bumped up against park land.

Chloe managed to disengage her emotions while she was working, but she could still sense a vague horror in the back of her mind. She sketched, photographed and took detailed notes about the scene. She made sure to once again get a picture of a LAMB track. There wasn't a real clear one this time, but it was enough for her to be certain it was at the very least the same kind of creature. Once she had done the work the Sheriff's office would need she started to look for the clues Bobby wanted.

She took out her Q3 and notated the readings she was getting on the machine. She could compare them to what Bobby had taken yesterday. She followed LAMBs trail back a bit and plucked a leaf off of a scrub brush and pocketed it carefully. Chloe thought that there was sulfur on the leaf. She didn't really need confirmation that this was LAMB, but being through never hurt.

Chloe walked up to Bobby and asked him if he needed anything in particular. He told her that she should have everything they needed.

"I think I have everything I need here Sheriff" Chloe told him.

"We have a couple of detectives and a coroner coming in from the city today. If you could do up one of your reports like you did with the dogs, I would appreciate it. Don't want them thinking we don't do our jobs out here in the sticks" he replied.

"I will email it to your office along with copies of the pictures soon Sir. It shouldn't take me more than an hour to do it so you should have it in about two hours" Chloe said.

"That was definitely the same creature Bobby" Chloe said as they walked in the front door of their cabin. "We have to stop that thing now before it kills again".

"That would be a damn fool move at this point. We can't do a damn thing until we know what we are dealing with. While you were out playing photographer, I had a few words with the Deputy. He said that Hank was one of the better shots in this area. So at this point we must assume that he was able to hit the LAMB. He had four rounds in his rifle. If he hit a normal bear with all four it would have hurt it bad. Did you see a blood trail when you were tracking it back to the woods"?

Chloe hadn't thought to look for a blood trail, but thankfully she was able to answer the question anyway. She had followed its tracks and had not seen any blood. "No I didn't see any. I did not spend a lot of time looking, but if it had four rounds in it then I would definitely have seen the blood. I did find this" she said pulling out the leaf with sulfur on it.

"Then we can assume that it is not hurt by regular bullets. We need to find out what this creature is vulnerable to before we run off half cocked" Bobby said firmly.

"We need to figure out what it is and stop it". Chloe started pacing back and forth in the cabin. "These people are helpless against this creature. If we don't stop it, how many people will die"?

"I couldn't agree more Sage. If the answers are anywhere, they are on that table. So you need to calm down and start thinking" Bobby reprimanded her.

"You do know that's not my real name right"?

"Yes. What's the point of learning to call you a name that might be dangerous to call you in public? Better to learn to call you something safe. If you want a different name later, we can settle on one".

"You have a point. It's just sometimes I feel starved for the sound of my own name. Sam calls me sweetheart, Dean the annoying brat calls me Princess and everyone else calls me the name of the hour. It's safer though and that should be the only thing that counts" Chloe sighed.

Bobby looked at her a moment. "If you would help me with the research Chloe, the book you were reading last night sounded promising".

Chloe smiled brightly at Bobby as she sat down. He really was a charming old grump.

"I need to send that report to the Sheriff then I will get right on it" Chloe said. "We need to keep a good relationship with them just in case".

Chloe typed up the report making it look as official as she could. Goodness knows she had hacked into enough police databases for information over the years that she knew about what it should look like. Chloe emailed the file and pictures to the Sheriff's office then got back to researching.

Pulling the Spanish book towards her and pulling up a Spanish/English dictionary she went back to translating the text. They would find the answer, they had to.

Chloe worked diligently for the rest of the morning. Bobby dropped a sandwich on the table beside her, but she ignored it. Her stomach was all tied in knots knowing that creature was out there. She drank coffee by the pot however until her stomach started to rebel.

"Eat your damn sandwich". The order came from the other side of the table. Chloe just sighed and took a few bites.

Chloe was about two thirds of the way through her book when she read something that caught her breath.

"Bobby" she said urgently. He stopped what he was doing and looked up. She swallowed and cleared her throat. She read to him what she had just read. She was thankful that he knew Spanish because she could not have translated at the moment to save her life.

When she was done, Bobby got up and came to sit beside her reading the section for himself. Bobby let out a big sigh. "I think that's it. If it is a Gunbéro, then we should be able to get rid of it. Now that we have a name it should be easier to find information".

Bobby tossed her another book and picked one up for him and they continued searching for information. Chloe's book, again in Spanish, didn't have any additional information. She pulled her lap top over and did a web search.

"Bobby, listen to this. There is a legend in along the pacific coast of a creature called a Gumberoo. It is said to be a bear like creature about the size of a black bear. The Gumberoo is entirely black and hairless. The thick hide is impervious to all weapons. It is said that bullets will ricochet back on the one who fires them. It says here that it's only weakness is its flammability. That makes sense; you said that it smelled stronger of sulfur than any demon you had yet to deal with".

"Our creature is a fair bit larger than a black bear, but other than that, the description is spot on. I wouldn't discount it being vulnerable to holy water either. It's still early afternoon. I want to do a bit more research before we head out, but I want to head back to his den before dark. I would like to kill this thing before it goes hunting again tonight".

They continued researching for almost two more hours but didn't come up with anything new. Bobby went out to the trunk of his car and started pulling out weapons.

"I want you to run up to the Ranger station and tell that lady we are going after this thing. Tell her under no uncertain terms not to send anyone out after us if we don't come back. Give her this and tell her if Sam and Dean come looking for us to give it and all of our stuff to them" Bobby told her handing her a sealed envelope.

Chloe grabbed her lap top and jumped on her bike to ride up to the station. Cindy was inside so she didn't have to go looking for her. She passed along Bobby's message and showed her pictures of the brothers on her laptop.

"Sage you don't have to do this. Fish and wildlife is sending someone out to trap and relocate the bear" Cindy said.

"Cindy, this is not an ordinary bear. Trapping and relocating it is not going to work. If they go out there and try to take this thing on they will all get killed. Bobby and I have to go; we are the only ones here who may have a chance to take this thing down. Whatever you do, don't go out into the forest with them. Promise me" Chloe said.

"I promise Sage. Nothing would get me out there right now. Just, be careful please".

"I will I promise. Just, if things go really badly, please tell him that I love him and my last thoughts were of him".

As Chloe headed back towards the cabin and Bobby, she wondered if she would ever see Sam again. She guessed that would depend on how accurate their research had been.


	6. Chapter 6

**Evasion – 6/?**

By Deliciously Weird

Pairing: Chloe/Sam

Characters: Chloe Sullivan, Bobby Singer, Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester, Bobby Singer, OCs

Rating: This is an adult fiction, it is not appropriate for children of any age. (Adult Language, Violence, off screen death and Sexual situations)

Series: At Home in Your Heart – Book 2 (Book 1 - Ineffable)

Description: Truly alone for the first time in her life, Chloe tries to cope while being hunted.

Warnings: Spoilers for up to season 8 Smallville and up to season 3 supernatural. This is AU but prior character history is mostly canon. I do not have a beta, so all mistakes are my own.

Disclaimer: All recognized characters from Supernatural are property of Eric  
Kripke/CW. All characters, references, and other things pertaining to Smallville are property of the WB, DC Comics, Tollin-Robins, Al Gough & Miles Millar, and J. Siegal & J. Shuster. I make no money for my labors, only friends.

As Chloe spent the fourth day in a row tramping through undergrowth on her way into the dark and scary woods she promised herself a week somewhere with out a single damn tree in sight. Okay so it was 4pm and it wasn't exactly dark, but give a girl some poetic license. Normally she liked trees just as much as the next girl, but if she had to spend one more day snagging flesh and clothes on thorns and bramble she might just scream.

On top of that she was laden down like a pack mule with equipment. When she had gotten back from seeing the Ranger, Bobby had laid out a ton of gear on the table. He had told her to get her knap sack and started to fill it with gear telling her what each was for and why she would be carrying it all. He had her get her pistol and loaded it with silver bullets.

"Shape shifters are often vulnerable to silver. I don't think that is what LAMB is, but better to be safe than sorry". Bobby told her.

He put three squeeze bottles of water in her pack telling her that holy water was likely to actually have some effect on LAMB, even if only to piss him off. Demonic creatures almost without fail feel intense pain at the touch of holy water on their skins he explained. He put two containers of salt in there. Throw it at him or lay a circle around you and pray was his advice. A box of shotgun shells filled with salt was the next item on the list. Once again something that traditionally worked with demonic beings. One sawed off shotgun to be used with the shells. She had never fired a shotgun but Bobby just told her to point it in the general direction and at least some of it would hit the beast.

"Just Don't shoot Me, that hurts like hell!" was his last advice on the shotgun.

He packed in some food and bottles of regular water as well as a section of light rope "If I go down, you get your ass up a tree and stay there until the boys come for you. Tie yourself to the tree so you don't fall out if you have to spend a few nights there".

So with that lovely advice as a moral booster they had set out to track down LAMB. Chloe could feel her heart starting to beat faster as they got closer to its den. She forced herself to take long calming breaths. Bobby was in front of her with a blow torch out.

They had discussed the problems with using a blow torch in a forest, but didn't see that they had much choice. From their research the only thing that the creature was vulnerable to was fire. They could let LAMB go tonight and hope to catch him out in the open or they could stop him now. Letting him go just hadn't seemed the right option. They had no idea where he would go and they couldn't let him kill another human being. Now that he had attacked one human it was more likely he would attack another.

It had been a wet spring here, so the chance of a wildfire was lower than it might be. They just had to hope for the best. They had packed up most of their belongings in their vehicles before they left just in case they had to depart quickly.

They had not been able to speak with John about what had happened to him. Chloe had tried to call him but the nurses told her that he was delirious with fever. His leg was becoming badly swollen. Bobby decided to head out anyway. Chloe's mind kept going around in circles trying to distract her, but she realized that she wasn't paying close enough attention to what they were doing.

She tried to clear her mind and take in everything around her. The light filtering through the trees was more than enough to see clearly in most places. Chloe narrowed her eyes to those few areas that were so shadowed the eye could not penetrate. She could hear small forest creatures moving around in the brush, scampering away as they approached. Either they were not yet there, or LAMB was not home today. The forest was alive as it had not been yesterday when he was near.

Chloe watched the tracks under her feet as they went along. Trusting in the local wildlife to warn her if LAMB was near she turned her attention down. She noticed that they were not following the same tracks that they did yesterday. There were no human tracks beyond those that Bobby was leaving in front of her.

"Why are we going a different way today?" she asked quietly.

"Too much human traffic there from the other day. LAMB may avoid it because of the odors. I am bringing us in from another direction. I am also hoping to stay down wind from him so he doesn't smell our approach" Bobby said.

Okay that made sense. Better to catch the creature by surprise if they could. Chloe silently followed Bobby.

She noticed when the sounds of the forest first dimmed then faded away. She kept her eyes warily moving along the trees ahead of them. Her shoulders were tense and she clutched at the shotgun in her hands. Remain calm, panic does not help she reminded herself. The forest was so quiet that Chloe could hear Bobby's breaths as they continued, slower than before down the path. Obviously Bobby was also feeling wary of the situation.

When LAMB finally did make his presence known, it took Chloe completely by surprise. She was not expecting cunning from the creature. From his reaction Bobby was taken by surprise as well. All evidence they had so far collected indicated he was a frontal assault kind of bear. The smell of sulfur had been increasing as they continued through the trees. Chloe thought that they must be getting very close to his den.

She was turning to scan the trees behind them when she heard a huge roar and was slammed into the tree in front of her. Chloe screamed and scrabbled at the bark to pull herself up. Turning she saw the most fearsome creature she had ever seen towering over her on his two hind feet. Bobby was on the ground as well. He was trying to get to his feet but was clutching his left wrist with the other hand. His empty hands! Where was the flame thrower? Where was the flame thrower? Bobby must have dropped it when he was hit.

LAMB slammed down onto his front legs and roared at Bobby. Chloe flinched back from the mighty sound. Oh god, of god…. That thing was a monster! Even standing on all fours he was as tall as Chloe and out weighed her by about 10 times. Chloe gasped in fear looking around frantically for her shotgun. It was lying on the ground by the right hind foot of LAMB. Chloe backed slowly to her left trying to get out of his line of site. LAMB lunged for Bobby who ducked around behind a tree. LAMB growled and lunged at Bobby again. Bobby jumped back and slid around behind another tree. God he couldn't keep that up long. She had to do something or they were both dead!

When LAMB lunged at Bobby a third time Chloe dived for her shotgun and rolled out of the way before LAMB backed up again for another lunge. She lifted her shotgun and aimed with trembling hands. Taking a deep breath she pulled the trigger. The blast caught him on his right rear leg. LAMB roared and shook his head. Chloe pumped the shotgun and fired again hitting him more solidly this time. He turned his head and roared at Chloe. Obviously he was feeling that and not liking it at all. Chloe pumped and shot him again catching him on the face. He spun around and roared at her. OH SHIT! Chloe's heart was beating a mile a minute. She hadn't thought this far.

Oh god! RUN! Chloe turned and ran through the trees dodging between any two that she saw that were big enough for her but two small for LAMB to make it through. She could feel the earth shaking as the Huge Bear ran after her. Chloe slung her shotgun over her shoulder as she ran. Obviously that was only good for pissing him off. Panting as she ducked around a huge old Oak, Chloe drew her pistol and whipped around firing three quick shots into his inky black hide.

CRAP! Chloe thought as he didn't slow down at all. She lunged to the side but was too slow. He caught her right thigh with his huge claws raking a deep wound into the flesh. Chloe grabbed a branch and pulled herself around to the other side of the tree digging frantically in her bag for anything to use against him.

"CHLOE DOWN"

She hit the deck and started to crawl away from LAMB as she heard Bobby's shotgun go off three times in quick succession. LAMBs foul breath was washing over her. She finally got her hand around a bottle of water and rolled over. LAMB was right on top of her, his front feet straddling her as he roared at Bobby in fury. Chloe lifted the bottle she had pulled out of her bag praying in was one with holy water and squirted it as hard as she could right in his mouth.

LAMB howled in pain backing up shaking his head violently. Chloe sat up squeezed the bottle again catching him in the eyes this time. LAMB turned on his hind legs and loped away crying out in pain. Chloe panted holding the bottle in front of her like a light saber unwilling to let it go. Bobby ran up to her and slid to the ground beside her. He fumbled through her bag finding another bottle and set it beside him. He then grabbed a bandage from the bag and started to bind her leg using mostly his right hand. The leg of her jeans was half soaked with blood and ripped from hip to 2 inches above her knee.

"Is it broken?" Chloe asked as she finally came out of her shock and started to wrap her own leg. It burned something fierce throbbing with pain, but it shouldn't be life threatening on her. Her body would recreate the blood fairly quickly if she had a chance to rest.

"I don't think so" Bobby answered. Chloe gently took his wrist and checked for breaks. She badly wanted to heal him, but she wasn't sure how he would react to her gifts. She remembered that Sam had warned her that some hunters would hunt meta-humans if they found out they had a gift. It probably wasn't wise either given her injuries. It would almost certainly put enough stress on her to make her pass out and Bobby needed her mobile. Chloe heard a snuffling sound not to far away and turned to face it holding her bottle. LAMB was circling them now. He didn't seem to want another direct confrontation right away, but he wasn't going to let them go either.

"Let me wrap your wrist. Watch him," Chloe said as she dug another bandage out of her bag. She would never again complain, even inside her head, about carrying a bag full of shit with her on hunts. They had used almost half of it already and they had caught up with LAMB less than five minutes ago. Bobby held the other water bottle with his right hand while she wrapped up his left.

"Are you okay Chloe, can you walk?" Bobby asked.

"Yeah I think I can if you help me up," she said. "Do you have the flame thrower?"

"I dropped it when he hit me. I didn't have time to find it when he took off after you." Bobby said. He offered his right hand and pulled her up.

"Do you see my…" Chloe bent over and picked up her pistol and put it in her holster. "Silver bullets were useless".

"Alright, we need to get you out of here" Bobby said. "If we go straight east we will get to the lake. We can walk back on the lakeshore or maybe even flag down a boat".

"We have to kill that thing first. We are already out here. We still have two full and one partial bottle of holy water with us. We have to at least try the flame thrower. We have to know if that works or we won't have learned anything" Chloe protested.

"I promised Sam I would take care of you. If I am hauling you injured through the woods after a monster we are not sure we can kill, then I am not keeping my word" Bobby told her flatly.

"Bobby, I gave you my word that I would not hold you back. I won't do that. More so, I gave my word to protect theses people. I told Joseph and Cindy and you that I would take this job seriously, even if it means risking my life for them. It's what the job is. I already knew that before we started. So let's go find that flame thrower. Do you think you can use it with your wrist"?

Bobby sighed. "Alright we will do it on one condition. When we are done here, sometime this month you are going to come visit me and spend at least a week learning how to shoot that thing. What were you aiming for the trees?"

Chloe laughed and hugged him briefly. "You have a deal."

They headed back along the trail looking trying to find where he had dropped the flame thrower. Luckily they had an easy trail to follow what with LAMB blundering through like a battle tank. LAMB was getting frustrated. They could hear him huffing and growling behind them as they walked. Bobby walked backwards facing LAMB with a bottle of holy water in his hand the whole time in case he made a move.

Chloe, grateful for everything she had learned this week, followed the trail back through the trees until she found the tree she had been thrown into at the start of this battle. "Do you know where you dropped it?"

"It flew off into the trees that way" he said pointing.

Chloe limped over in the direction he was pointing. Seeing a flash of orange she reached into the bush and pulled the flame thrower out. Dammit ouch, why did the bush have to have thorns?

"Okay so what now?" She asked handing it to him. "He seems frustrated but wary of us".

"I would guess that this may be the first time he was ever hurt by something he was hunting. He is probably confused. If we give him some time to get over it he will come for us again" Bobby suggested.

"What if we used one of those sandwiches as bait?" she asked.

"Good idea" Bobby led her over to a large tree and had her slide in behind some bushes to hide. Then he pulled out one of the sandwiches. He opened it up and laid it out bread side down in the middle of the path. Bobby then snuck around to hide behind a tree near her.

Chloe clutched her bottle of holy water and waited silently to see if LAMB would take the bait. She had pulled the other bottle of water out and had it tucked into the front pocket of her knapsack so she could get at it quickly. After a while she checked her watch. They hadn't heard him leave, but so far LAMB was not taking the bait. Chloe leaned out and glanced at Bobby. He frowned at her fiercely and gestured for her to stay down and quiet.

If you had asked her previously if it was possible to be both bored and terrified at the same time she would have told you unequivocally no. After another 30 min had passed with nothing happening Chloe found out that yes, yes you could feel both emotions at once. She had to admit that it wasn't a combination she really wanted to mix again. Like a bad cocktail she was sure she would be feeling the affects long after. It took ten more excruciatingly long minutes passing before Bobby gave it up. He crossed over to her and whispered in her ear.

"I don't think he is taking the bait. I guess he doesn't care for baloney sandwiches. You have anymore of that fruit on you?" Bobby asked.

"No I don't have any. I have an idea though. You are really not going to like it however" she said.

"If you know I am not going to like it, then why are you bringing it up?" he asked.

"I think it will actually work".

Bobby just stared at her for a long moment. "Okay what do you have in mind girl?"

"Me. We use me as bait. I'll go limping off down the path seemingly alone and dragging my injured leg. I'll moan like a wounded animal. He won't be able to resist the easy prey" she said.

"You are absolutely right. I completely hate the Idea. If Sam every found out I used you as bait he would skin me alive. You are right about one other thing too. It would probably work" Bobby said. "I can't do it Chloe. I just can't use you as bait".

"Bobby listen to me," Chloe said quietly and calmly. "We will never ever tell Sam about this part. I swear to you that the secret will not pass my lips from now until the grave. I know you barely know me, but I swear to you that I am a very good secret keeper. We have to do this Bobby. I don't think either of us will be able to forgive ourselves for not trying if someone else dies out here tonight".

"You're right girl. I really hate it that you are, but you are right" Bobby said gruffly.

"I know you won't let anything happen to me and I will take a bottle with me to be safe" she said. "I am going to try and lead him back towards that clearing we passed. With any luck we can get him there with less chance of fire".

"I'll be right behind you the whole way".

Chloe stood up slowly and caught Bobby's eyes. "It will be okay".

Chloe started off back down the path dragging her leg as she went whimpering in pain. She didn't have to pretend very hard. Her leg was throbbing and if the situation wasn't so dire she would be crying. Realizing that she could cry if she wanted to, she let the tears flow down her face. She tried to contain the sobs that wanted to rise. If she made too much noise neither her nor Bobby would be able to hear LAMB coming.

For once things were going according to script. She was just feet from the clearing when she heard LAMB making his move. She whipped around quickly to see him bearing down on her. Throwing herself to the side and off the path Chloe managed to avoid getting struck again. She hit him with a stream of holy water on one side, just as Bobby hit the other with the flame thrower.

Chloe tumbled to the ground and rolled out of the way as LAMB burst into flame with a popping sound. The sound he made when he went up was horrifying and Chloe was sure she was going to be hearing it in her dreams for weeks. Chloe stumbled to her feet and back away from the blaze in awe. It was like Bobby had set flame to a 1000 pound match. The flames shot high into the air singeing the leaves on the branches above him before settling down into a tidy blaze.

"Are you okay?" Bobby called from the other side of the blaze.

"Yeah. I'm fine Bobby I am just fine." Then she let out a whoop of laughter. "We got the son of bitch didn't we? It's over".

"That we did girl".

Bobby walked around the corpse and tossed salt on the burning flesh. Then he walked over and leaned against the tree beside her. "We need to wait for this to burn out. Then we should go check the den for young or signs of another bear. Are you going to be okay to wait, or should we call someone out here to get you? Will you be able to walk out period for that matter"?

"I'm going to be just fine Bobby. I am just so relieve that this is over. There is one less monster in the world now".

They waited until the Gumberoo burned out. There was nothing but ashes left of him. Chloe used holy water to put the last of the embers out. Then they walked down the path towards his den. They found nothing to indicate that there was more than one creature there. Chloe would give Cindy her number just in case something else showed up, but it looked like everything would be fine now.

Bobby called ahead to have someone meet them on the path to look at Chloe's leg. She tried to look brave and sturdy, but the truth was she wanted to kiss the guys with the stretcher by the time they got there. They carried her out of the forest the rest of the way. Chloe closed her eyes as exhaustion swept over her. She was actually dozing a little by the time they got to the waiting ambulance. They laid her down on the gurney and cut off the leg of her jeans. Damn I really liked this pair too.

The slashes on her leg were actually worse than Chloe had thought they were and the paramedics insisted that she go to the hospital. They rewrapped Bobby's wrist and said it was probably not broken but he should get an x-ray. Bobby insisted that he was fine and would follow them to the Hospital in his car.

Cindy came up to her just before they loaded her into the ambulance. She was concerned about Chloe, of that Chloe had no doubt. What she really needed to know was what happened. "We got it Cindy. We got it" Chloe said with a tired smile as they loaded her in. The relief she saw on Cindy's face made her feel proud.

They ended up having to do one hundred and fifty stitches to close all four gashes in her leg. The one from his middle claw was the worst, deep and long. The one from his pinky claw only took three stitches. Bobby had told them that his niece did not have any insurance and they would be paying the hospital bill in cash. Once word of that got around a collection was taken up among those that knew what she and Bobby had done. They ended up having enough money to pay half of the bill up front from their generosity. The hospital waved the rest of the fee.

They gave Chloe a crutch and told her to stay off her leg as much as possible for the next week. Chloe had no intention of following those instructions and told Bobby that she would be heading out in the morning. He argued with her about it, but she was stubborn in her refusal.

Chloe stopped by to visit John. He was not doing very well. His body wasn't responding to the antibiotics they were giving him. The doctors were going to put him on an IV antibiotic to combat the infection that was firmly set in his wounds. Chloe could only spend a few moments with him; standing was proving to be difficult. Cameron helped her into and out of the room with clumsy gallantry. He gave her a large portion of the credit for getting his cousin back.

Bobby took Chloe back to the cabin and ordered her into bed. He wouldn't let her move out of it for the rest of the night. Chloe didn't fight him too badly. She knew if she rested that her leg would start healing faster, and the pain meds she was on made her a little woozy. So she relaxed, feeling safe with LAMB gone and Bobby there to guard her, she truly let her defenses down for the first time in weeks and rested completely.

Chloe felt much better the next morning. Fourteen hours of sleep will do that for a girl. She cleaned up as well as she could without getting her bandages wet. She told Bobby that she needed to get back on the road soon. She didn't like staying in one place too long. It invited the DDS to catch up with her.

Bobby insisted that she needed to rest one more day before she went. He said he would take her out for a nice diner that evening.

"Bobby," Chloe said calmly holding his eyes. She smelled something fishy going on. "When are they going to be here?"

Bobby sighed at her question. "In about four hours".

Chloe sighed and pushed herself up and started to pack her things.

"Chloe, you are too injured to be riding that bike. You should stay here and rest a few days. We will guard you and keep watch for people looking for you. Can't you at least wait to see the boy? He was scared and angry when he heard that you had been hurt. He needs to see you. He needs to know that you are okay" Bobby tried to persuade her.

"Bobby, I can't. Nothing in this world would make me bring my trouble down on them. I am not certain yet that I am clear of the DDS. I need at least a month more to be certain that they aren't tracking me. God, I want to see him more than just about anything, but not more than I want to keep him safe. I have to go. I am sorry. Tell him that he is all I think about every day".

"You're being an idiot pushing yourself so hard. You don't have to be alone like this. There are people that want to help you".

"It won't be for much longer Bobby. I promise once it's safe I will find him".

Chloe grabbed the rest of her stuff and packed as quickly as she could. She wanted to shove things in bags quickly, but if she didn't pack neatly it wouldn't all fit on her bike. Bobby walked her out to her bike helping her to finishing loading it.

"Here I want you to take this with you" he said handing her a small Latin text book. "If you really want to be a hunter, you will need to learn Latin".

Chloe threw her arms around him and hugged him close. "Thank you Bobby for giving me a chance, for teaching me how to live in his life. Thank you for helping me, help people. I missed that from my old life, knowing that my life served a greater purpose. Even if it wasn't my destiny, I was helping those who could make a difference".

Bobby's arms came around her and he hugged her close for a moment. "Take care of yourself girl. He is going to call you in about three hours pissed as hell. You probably should to find a place to pull over about then".

"Alright I will. Take care of yourself Bobby. You are a hell of a guy".

Bobby handed her $200 in cash. "Spend the next couple of nights in a hotel girl. You need to be able to lay out comfortably with that leg".

Chloe swung her leg over her bike stifling the grimace of pain it caused. She couldn't take the medicine and ride so her leg was feeling like hell. Pulling out of the park she felt sad. She had gotten to know a group of people here. They had welcomed and cared for her. Maybe she could come back through here in a month or so and spend a few days visiting Cindy.

There was just one more stop that she needed to make before she left town. Chloe pulled into the hospital and parked her bike up near the front door. One good thing about riding a bike, parking was easy.

She stole through the hospital as quietly as she could limping all the way. Her goal was to reach her destination unnoticed. She wanted a few minutes alone with John. Cameron had told her yesterday while she was visiting that the doctors were really worried about John. He said the doctors told him if John didn't respond quickly to the new antibiotics, he was going to loose his leg.

Chloe just couldn't let that happen. It would have been better if she could have healed him right away before the doctor's saw his leg. Chloe made it to his room and slipped in quietly. John was sleeping which was all for the best.

What Chloe was hoping to achieve was something she had not yet tried. She was going to try and partially heal John's leg. If she healed it all the way then there would be a huge uproar. If she could control her gift this time and heal just enough to help him defeat the infection, she would be able to slip out without anyone being the wiser to her presence.

Chloe knew she was taking a risk, but how could she let this sweet brave young man go through life without a leg when she could save it. She was tired and injured so she really did need to control this and only heal him partially. It would not do for her to show up dead in his hospital room with him completely healed.

Chloe peaked out the window in the room door and saw the coast was clear. She walked back over to John's bed and held her hands over his injured leg. She took one deep breath; two, three then closed her eyes. Healing she had found was largely a matter of will power. She had to want it, to desire the injured person to be whole. She had to bend her will power and all of her heart to that one goal.

It was easy to do this when she had healed Lois the first time. When she had found her cousin still as death, there was only one thought in her head. No. No not Lois. Lois should not be dying. Lois should not be dead. Lois should be alive and laughing and living with that incredible unstoppable zest that was her being. Chloe had wanted that more than life itself in that moment, and so it became real. She willed it to be so.

Because it took such will and imagery, she would probably find it hard if not impossible to heal a stranger. It was actually a relief to her when she figured that out. She had felt an enormous amount of guilt for not using her gift for the good of everyone. It was a hard thing to contemplate, dying over and over to save the lives of strangers. Once she realized the limitations of her gift she almost felt free.

Chloe formed an image in her mind of the man as she knew him. She imagined his shy smile. She imagined his warm dark eyes regarding her with blooming affection. She imagined his gentle guidance as he showed her how to see with his eyes. She thought of his hand warm and strong, holding hers as he helped her over rough spots. Then she envisioned him with two legs. One leg was strong and true, the other was injured but clean and without infection or decay. She held that image in her mind and pushed with all her might.

Chloe felt the energy flowing out of her. She held strong as her minds eye saw the ravaged flesh of his leg repairing. She flowed through the muscles and the blood steam cleansing out the poisons that lingered there. Once that was complete she tried to pull out. She relaxed her mind and let go of the image, but the connection would not sever.

Chloe started to struggle against the hold of her gift, but was unable to break free. The healing slowed but would not stop. It held her captive to the injured body it needed to correct. She had to stop this now! It would not serve her or John for him to appear miraculously healed. His life would be a circus. Chloe struggled harder and harder and finally with a great heaving effort, she was able to tear herself from the connection. Chloe cried out in pain. It felt like she was tearing out part of her soul as she separated herself from John. With another cry she stumbled away from the bed and fell to the floor and into darkness.


	7. Chapter 7

**Evasion – 7/?**  
By Deliciously Weird  
Pairing: Chloe/Sam  
Characters: Chloe Sullivan, Bobby Singer, Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester, Bobby Singer  
Rating: This is an adult fiction, it is not appropriate for children of any age. (Adult Language, Violence, off screen death and Sexual situations)

Series: At Home in Your Heart – Book 2 (Book 1 - Ineffable)

Description: Truly alone for the first time in her life, Chloe tries to cope while being hunted.

Warnings: Spoilers for up to season 8 Smallville and up to season 3 supernatural. This is AU but prior character history is mostly canon. I do not have a beta, so all mistakes are my own.

Disclaimer: All recognized characters from Supernatural are property of Eric  
Kripke/CW. All characters, references, and other things pertaining to Smallville are property of the WB, DC Comics, Tollin-Robins, Al Gough & Miles Millar, and J. Siegal & J. Shuster. I make no money for my labors, only friends.

Chloe kept drifting in and out of awareness. She could hear worried voices around her. She was lifted and carried, then laid down on a something moving. She tried to swim up to consciousness, but could not reach the surface. She grew tired of the struggle and relaxed into the cool black darkness of her unconscious mind.

Time passed as she lay there, she was conscious of that. Every once in a while a voice would penetrate the darkness.

"She just collapsed doctor and she won't wake up. Some of her stitches have torn as well".

"I am her closest living relative. I would be the one to make decisions".

"Wake up girl. Sam will be here to see you soon".

"Poor thing, being attacked by that dreadful monster".

"He asked me out on Friday, but I don't know if I am going to go. I have heard from some of the other nurses what a dog he is".

"Chloe. Oh god. Chloe please". She knew that voice. It seemed important and she tried to reach it, but the darkness pulled her back down. "Wake up love, I need you".

"Call her Sage Sam".

"We don't know why she won't wake up. With coma cases it's hard to tell what will happen. We think that there may have been some kind of bacterial contaminant on the Bear's claws. Our other attack patient had a hard time of it until just recently. We had her on an oral antibiotic to keep her from developing the same infection. We are going to give her the same IV antibiotic the young man responded so well too now that she is unconscious".

"Is she going to be okay"?

"She is young and I am hopeful. However, with how under weight she is, it could be touch and go. The longer she goes without waking up, the greater the chance she won't wake up. It's too soon to really be worried about that however". Under weight? She knew she had lost weight recently but surly not that much.

"Sammy, you should go rest, it's been days. Bobby still has the cabin rented".

"I can't leave her here alone Dean. I don't want her to wake up alone".

"Go get some sleep, I will stay with her".

"There is no medical reason that she should still be unconscious Mr. Singer. Her wounds are healing much better than expected. All we can do at this point is wait and pray".

"Please Father, don't take her from me. I beg of you to help her wake up, help her heal. Please don't take her from me too. I can't lose her too". Then the voice spoke softly for a long time in Latin. Chloe clung to that voice, she knew that voice. She loved that voice. Sam? She struggled towards him but couldn't quite reach, exhausted she floated back down into darkness.

"No, she hasn't woken up yet. I'll call you if there is any change".

"Yes, I will come back to sleep tonight if you come sit with her".

"Alright I'll see you shortly".

Chloe opened her eyes and blinked at the bright light. Above her she saw industrial ceiling tiles. When she moved her arm she felt the pinch of an IV in the back of her hand. Great, she really had to stop waking up in hospitals. It was becoming a deplorable habit of hers.

Chloe stretched and groaned when she tried to move her leg. Okay ouch! Let's not do that again.

"Chloe?" Sam's voice was jubilant. "Sweetheart, oh thank god you're awake!"

"Sam?" Chloe turned her head to look at the man she loved. God it was so good to see him. He looked tired and drawn, but his expression was of pure joy. He leaned over with tears in his eyes and kissed her forehead.

"Oh thank god you are awake. I was so worried sweetheart. Let me get the doctor" Sam said walking to the door and bellowing for a doctor.

Well the hospital was just going to love that, she thought. Chloe tried to push herself up into a seated position but felt weak and let her body fall back down. Sam came back over and elevated the head of the bed for her. Then he sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her into his arms.

"I love you so much Chloe. God, you scared me. I thought I might loose you".

"I would never leave you Sam" Chloe said wishing she could tell him just how able she might be to keep that promise. Chloe kissed his cheek and held onto him as tightly as she could.

"Sir, Sam you need to move aside. We need to check on her" a nurse said as she came into the room.

Sam sat back down in the chair he had been sitting in beside her bed. He maintained his grip on her hand as long as possible. A doctor came in and checked on her, doing tests on her motor functions and responses. Chloe did what the doctor asked of her, but her eyes kept drifting to Sam sitting quietly in the corner. Their eyes would lock until someone stepped in-between them. The doctor had to repeat himself several times to get her attention.

"Well Miss Baker, you seem to be doing better than expected. You are still a bit disoriented, but that is to be expected coming out of a coma".

"How long?" Chloe asked.

"Almost three days Miss Baker" the doctor answered.

Three days? That was much longer than she had expected. Usually she collapsed for up to twelve hours or died. She had never slipped into a coma that long. Chloe wondered if it had something to do with how she forced the separation. That had felt like an injury to her, not taking on John's injury.

"Three days? That's a long time. How is John doing"?

"Let's just say we are glad that you woke up when you did Miss" the doctor said with a smile. "John is doing great. He was discharged yesterday. Why don't we get one of the nurses to bring you something to eat? Do you think you could eat something for us"?

Chloe nodded and agreed that she would try to eat.

"I am going to put you on a diet. I want you to try to follow it closely. You need to gain at least five pounds. Your boyfriend told me that he thinks you have lost at least 15 lbs in the last 4 months. You simply can't afford to loose any more and you don't need to. You were at a healthy weight 15 pounds ago" the doctor said.

"I'll do my best doctor" Chloe said agreeably. It was always best to just agree with doctors if you intended to follow their advice or not. Chloe was fairly sure that she would not be able to follow his diet when she was living out of her bike, but she would do the best she could.

The doctor walked out and Chloe was alone with Sam again. She had no idea what to say. 'Hi, I am so sorry I went into a coma I was intending to run away from you' just didn't sound like a good conversation starter. She could tell by the look in his eyes sort of sad and desperate that he was hurt, scared and probably angry at her. She looked at him unable to drag her eyes away. God he looked so good. She had wondered if her mind recalled an idealized image of him, but there he was flesh and blood and wonderful.

Sam walked over and sat on the edge of her bed again. He lifted his hand and cupped her cheek softly. "I was so worried that I would never get to see your eyes again. You laid there so still" he said softly.

Chloe turned her head and kissed the palm of his hand. "You look good Sam. I have missed you so very much. I heard you sometimes talking to Dean and the doctor. At first I couldn't even remember who you were, but I knew I had to come back to you".

Sam leaned forward and laid his forehead against hers. "Don't ever leave me like that sweetheart".

"I will always come back to you my love" Chloe told him. She knew she couldn't promise not to collapse again. If anything every happened to him or Dean she would use her gift without a second thought.

He cupped his hand around the back of her neck and pulled her into him. His lips pressed against hers undemanding, they just lingered softly in a gentle kiss against hers. Chloe closed her eyes and slid her hands into his hair. God she loved his hair. It was soft and fine and long enough to hold onto. She didn't use her fingers to pull him closer or deepen the kiss. She just held onto him heart beating fast just from being close to him.

Sam pulled back and placed tiny kisses on her forehead, eyelids, checks, nose and mouth. It was sweet and cherishing, it make her feel very loved.

"You told me that you were doing well" Sam said accusingly. "I don't call being painfully thin doing well. I won't leave you out here alone again, not if you are going to run yourself into the ground".

"Sam, I can take care of myself" she said. "It was probably the wound. Didn't the doctor say there was some kind of weird bacteria or something"?

Sam kissed her forehead again. "Sweetheart, you don't look good. You have lost so much weight. Let me help you".

"I lost some of that weight before I even left Smallville love. I was taking all those self defense classes. It's really not that big of a deal". Chloe saw him about to interrupt and placed her fingers over his lips. "I promise to do better".

Sam kissed her fingers. "We can talk about this later. Right now I want you to concentrate on getting better sweetheart".

Someone behind Sam cleared their throat. Sam turned around and saw a nurse holding a tray.

"You can start right now by eating that entire tray" Sam said determinedly.

Chloe sighed knowing that in this case she was beat. "Bring on the Hospital Jell-O." She quipped at Sam. What do you know there really was Jell-O too, lime Jell-O.

Chloe and Sam talked about inconsequential things while she ate. Every time she pushed the tray away he would push it right back over her lap.

"Sam, I am full" Chloe protested.

"You have been asleep for three days Sweetheart. How can you possibly be full after half a sandwich"? Sam glared at her. "You promised love, now eat it all".

Of all the mother henning, worry worting, doing this for your own gooding, irritating, and stubborn, demanding, wonderful and stupidly sexy man of her dreams. If he didn't drive her to drink she swore she would love him forever. Hell she would probably still be pining for him from her suite at Betty Ford.

"You are the most frustrating individual" Chloe said. She tried to get him to call her Sage, but instead he was just boycotting a name for her at all. All she got from him was pet names. It was annoying. Cute and endearing it was really, but annoying all the same.

"Love, I have had it with doing things your way. From now on we are doing things my way. I won't, can't let things go on like this when it is obvious you aren't doing as well as you had lead me to believe"

Sam was deadly serious she could tell. This was just so sad, because he sure had another thing coming if he thought he could lay down the law.

"Sam Winchester, I love you dearly. So, I am really going to miss you after I choke you to death" Chloe said in a sickly sweet voice.

"Do you need a body guard in here Sammy" Dean said walking in the door.

"Dean!" Chloe said brightly. "I missed you Casanova".

Dean walked over and kissed her forehead then hugged her. "You had Sammy crying over you Princess. I glad your highness finally decided to wake up. It's rude to take a nap when you are expecting company".

"Even ruder to run off like a damn fool when you are unwell" said a grumpy voice from the doorway.

"Hey Bobby," Chloe said with a smile. "I am sorry to have worried you. I really didn't think I was going to pass out like that". She was getting better at the half truths; she hadn't expected to pass out like that true. Die for a while maybe. Get dizzy and have time to get somewhere to pass out for an hour or three maybe. She had not expected a 3 day coma from healing a leg.

"Him you are sorry for worrying. Me you glare at and threaten with bodily harm" Sam said with a laugh.

"Well he isn't half as annoying as you are when you go full on protective mode darling" Chloe said with a laugh. She caught Sam's eyes and the rolled her own at him.

Dean laughed at his poor brother. "That's what you get for picking a brainy chick to fall for Sammy. I suggest a dumb blonde next time".

Chloe reached out and slapped Dean on the arm. "What next time Romeo? He doesn't go through girls like underwear. Like some people. He can actually keep one longer than a day".

"Ouch. You wound me Beautiful".

Now that she was seeing them again Chloe realized that she missed them more than she thought. She reached out and took Sam's hand. "I really missed you both you know. Even though we talk every day it's not like being with you".

Sam pushed her over a little and sat down beside her one leg standing on the ground the other hip resting on the bed. Pulling her back into his arms he slid a little closer and whispered. "I missed your even more".

Chloe rested her head back against his chest, finally being in his arms again felt like heaven. She closed her eyes and turned her head pressing her cheek to his chest. How could she have forgotten this feeling? The first time she had felt it was at Echo's parlor. It was unlike anything in her life previously, the feel of him surrounding her, cherishing her, protecting and loving her. Her throat grew tight and her body shook with a suppressed sob. She just burrowed in closer to his warmth trying not to cry. She had felt so achingly alone since leaving Smallville. All of a sudden all the feeling she had been suppressing started to rise. Maybe it was because safe in his arms, she felt she was allowed to be week. The feelings running through her were overpowering.

She tried to hide her tears but Sam knew anyway. "Shh love, I'm here. I'm here for you" he whispered softly in her ear.

"Could you guys give us a couple minutes" Sam asked?

"Sure, we'll go get a coffee" Dean said as they left.

Her shoulders shook again and she gulped back another sob. Of course he would know, he read her body like an open book.

"Its okay love let it out. I am here. I won't leave you".

Finally, sitting in a hospital bed wrapped in the arms of the man she loved, she let go. She had suppressed everything she was feeling for weeks. All of her fears and her worry, her sorrow for a well loved life gone, for well loved friends she could no longer be with came out. Terrible heartrending sobs shook her body.

Sam simply held her and let her cry, whispering his love for her. He told her that somehow they would make it right. Chloe clung to him like a lost child, for that is what she felt like in that moment. She was lost and adrift in the world. She was strong. She knew would make it regardless, but it felt so good to let him hold her. To pretend that he could make everything right for her. Unable to put down new roots, she had felt unconnected to the world. She was an observer living her life, but not living life. Working with Bobby had given her purpose again. It had given her a job to do, a reason for being. Now that she would be leaving him, it felt like she had been cut adrift for the second time.

When she stopped sobbing Sam grabbed some Kleenex from the box beside her bed. She blew her nose and then laughed self deprecatingly. "I must be a mess" she sniffled.

"A bit yes" Sam admitted. "But you look beautiful to me. Want to tell me what that was all about? Was it your home, your friends, or the Bear?"

"Mostly I am missing home, my friends and my family. Honestly, LAMB is far from the scariest thing I have dealt with. I have even been in more danger than that a half a dozen times" Chloe said. "I feel like an idiot for sobbing all over you hon. I am not the kind of girl who cries all the time".

"I think you can be excused this time. Your life has been completely turned around" He said.

Chloe nodded. "The only good thing about this is that I finally get to be with you. I don't know if I would ever have been brave enough to leave my old life behind. I had people there that needed me, depended on me".

"If I could make it go away for you I would love. Even if it meant loosing you, I would still put it back for you" Sam told her rocking her in his arms slowly.

"Sorry to loose it. I think having you with me. it reminded me of everything I have lost".

"I can't make up for all of that Chloe. But I will give you everything I can".

"You can be enough for me Sam. You and Dean and Bobby, you guys can be enough. I can help you do your job. It's important and it's something worth dedicating your life too".

"I am hoping one day that we will be able to settle down somewhere sweetheart. Would you mind terribly living a normal life with me" Sam asked her seriously.

"Life with you could never be ordinary".

Bobby and Dean returned then. Dean, bless his heart, even snuck her in a contraband coffee.

"For this, I might just consider switching brothers" She told him.

"I see how it is," Sam laughed behind her.

Chloe looked up at him and smiled. She really was lucky to have him.

They talked quietly about the hunts they had just finished. Chloe kept her word and didn't say a thing about using her as bait. Chloe was chilled when the told her about their case. It had been a close call for Dean. They all acted like it was any other day talking and teasing each other.

It hit her then that it really was just like any other day. They lived very dangerous lives and close calls were not uncommon. Her normal partner in crime was invincible. So while she knew what they did was dangerous, she never really worried that much about Clark. She had to keep him mentally balanced and pointed in the right direction. Physically however she had rarely had to be afraid of loosing him. She guessed she would just have to get used to worrying more. She always worried a lot about Oliver, so she would now have three more stubborn heroic men to add to her list.

Chloe started to feel tired so she slid over a bit more to give Sam some room. Once he was settled she carefully curled up in his arms. Resting her head on his shoulder she drifted off to sleep.

When she woke up later, she wasn't sure how much time had passed. Bobby and Dean were gone, but she was still curled up in Sam's arms. His cheek was resting on top of her head. Chloe sighed contentedly.

"You awake" he asked.

"Yeah" Chloe said with a yawn.

"Good cause I really need to move now" Chloe chuckled as he slide out from under her and headed for the bathroom.

When he came back in his face was serious. "Chloe I want to talk to you. You aren't going to be able to ride your bike with that leg. Speaking of which, you never told me you were riding a bike" Sam arched an eyebrow at her.

"Well I didn't want to give you anything more to worry about. You already were stressing about me out alone. I hate how much we argue now. I just didn't want one more reason to fight. Sometimes I wonder if you are just going to give me up as too much trouble" she told him honestly.

"Well I actually think the bike is kind of sexy" Sam said.

Chloe couldn't help but grin. "Really? Well I didn't know you had an inner bad boy Sam".

He leaned over and kissed her warm and sweet. "Well that goes to show you don't know everything about me yet".

"I guess not" she grinned.

Sam sat down on the edge of the bed with a sigh. "I don't like us arguing either love. It's just the situation that is making things so difficult for us. Once you stop being so damn stubborn and let us help you we won't argue anymore".

"You are so deluded! If you think I will just roll over and do whatever you say, you have another thing coming".

"That is not what I meant". Sam stood up with a sound of frustration and walked to the other side of the room facing the wall. "Let me put it out there plainly. I think you take too many risks. I will always fight to keep you safe. None of that will ever change how I feel about you. I fight with you because I can't imagine my life without you".

He was so earnest that she could not doubt the words he spoke. "I do know that hon. When does the doctor say I can get out of here anyway"?

"Tomorrow if you are feeling up to it" Sam answered.

"Oh I definitely will be feeling up to it. I really hate hospitals" she told him.

Sam walked back over and sat on the edge of her bed. He was much closer than before. "Let me show you just how much my feelings haven't changed" he said in a low voice.

God what that voice of his did to her. She really wanted to kiss him. Mind and body were one hundred percent with that program; unfortunately she just couldn't let him do it. She placed a hand on his chest and pushed him away. "Sam stop".

"Chloe?" he asked softly in confusion.

"Sam I really hate to tell you this, but I haven't brushed my teeth in three days. You really really don't want to give me that kind of kiss right now".

Sam laughed, "No I guess I don't".

He kissed her forehead and stood up. Let me see if I can find your toothbrush. Your bike is still parked out front I just need to find your keys.

"Check the drawers," she suggested.

He opened a few drawers until he found her clothes. He dug in her jeans pocket and found her keys. He held them up jangling them in triumph.

"In the right saddle bag, there is a bag with my shower stuff" she said. "Bring me my Latin text book too. I might as well get some studying done while I am prisoner here".

"Ask and you shall receive" he said heading out the door.

How was she ever going to be able to leave him again? If she truly cared about him she would get far away from him. The problem with that was neither one of them wanted her to go. It was getting harder to remember why she should.

Sam came back with her entire shower bag and book. "You want me to get you a glass of water, or do you want to try to make it to the bathroom"?

"Bathroom" Chloe said definitively. Sam put her bag down on the counter in the bathroom and came back over to the bed.

"How does your leg feel?" he asked.

"It's sore and throbbing, but not more than I would expect. It's a lot stiffer than it was 3 days ago" she answered.

"Okay let me do most of the work at first. Once we get you on your feet we can see how it goes" Sam said.

He pulled down the covers then adjusted the bed until she was sitting almost straight up. "Hold onto my shoulders". He grasped her ankles and slowly slid her feet around off the bed. Chloe grasped his shoulders for balance. Leaning down over her he slid his arms around her. One went snugly around her waist the other around her back under her arms. He pulled her tightly to his body and took a step back from the bed letting her legs slide down straight. Her feet were still about 6 inches off the ground at that point. Chloe wrapped her arms around his neck and snuggled in close to his body. It felt good to be pressed so close against him.

"Sweetheart" Sam cleared his throat. "We aren't going to get you to the bathroom if you don't stop kissing my neck".

"That wasn't a kiss, my lips just happened to be in the area". Chloe giggled at his reaction but decided to behave. She really did need to get to the bathroom and not just to brush her teeth. As pleasurable as it was to be pressed tightly to Sam, it was not helping her situation out at all.

Sam slowly let her slide down his body until her feet met the ground. What was he trying to do to her? How was she supposed to walk when he was making her knees feel weak? She wondered if her door had a lock or not. Sam held her shoulders firmly as he stepped back. She felt okay so far. There was a sort of pulling sensation in her right thigh, but she didn't feel unsteady at all.

"Not so bad. Just don't go far" she said.

Sam slid an arm around her back and grabbed one of her hands with his free one. "Alright love, slow steps".

While she really didn't want to try this yet without his support, she was walking pretty well. The wound on her right thigh felt tight and sore when she tried a few strides on it. So she settled for a sort of hopping stride. Sam took her all the way into the bathroom where she shoed him back out. "I think I can do this by myself"

Sam gave her a look and leaned his shoulder against the wall by the door which she shut in his face. The shower looked so inviting but she figured she better not. Sam would probably throw a fit for one. She probably should ask a nurse if it was okay if she took one first anyway. Chloe finished her business and opened the door.

"Sam, would you ask a nurse if it's okay if I take a shower. They even have a seat in here so I won't have to stand the whole time".

She didn't miss the fact that he glanced in to take a look at the seat before he left to find a nurse. She hoped that was just curiosity on his side. He was not going to help her take a shower. Sam came back with a nurse in tow. She had Chloe sit back down on her bed. She removed the bandage on her thigh and cleaned the wound gently.

"Alright, you can take a shower, but try not to touch your wound. This is looking really good, you are a fast healer. Have your friend come get one of us to bandage this when you are done." She was kind but a bit brisk. She did however hand Chloe a clean hospital gown on her way out so Chloe decided she liked her a lot.

Sam helped her back over to the bathroom. He did offer to help her, but did not push at all when she declined. Chloe took her shower standing up for the most part. She just had to sit down when she wanted to wash her legs. She felt much better once she was clean. Sam was still standing there waiting when she opened the door. Chloe smiled warmly at him. Feeling more like herself she stepped in close to his body and ran her hands up to his shoulders.

"Hello handsome did I mention yet just how much I have missed you?" she asked in a husky voice.

Sam groaned softly. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. "Why don't you show me?" He said. Sam stooped down and wrapped one arm under her behind and picked her up off the ground bringing her mouth level to his. The position put a little pressure on her leg wound, but nothing bad enough to stop her from what she wanted to do next. Tangling her fingers in his soft hair she tugged his mouth down to hers. She loved the feel of his hard body pressed to hers. It felt different than before, where once she was soft against his hardness, now she was firm.

He seemed content to let her lead so she teased him first. Chloe kissed him softly at first, sweet kisses like a mother gave her child, while she ran her hands through his hair, fingernails lightly scraping his scalp. Sam groaned softly when she did that. She would have to remember to do that a lot. Then she nibbled all along his lower lip giving little licks of her tongue after each bite. His lips feel open for her when she did that, but she did not press her advantage. Chloe licked slowly under the bottom of his upper lip. Sam gave a soft little whimper of desire and pulled her in tighter against him. The increased pressure made the position uncomfortable for her.

"Bed" she said.

Sam carried her over and sat her down on the edge of the bed. Chloe sighed in relief. Even with her sitting on the bed he was taller than she was. Sam ran his hand over the back of her head, He gripped with his fingers but her hair was so short he couldn't run his fingers through it.

"I miss your hair" he said softly.

"I'll let it grow out if you want love. But I probably shouldn't dye it Blonde again. Better to make a change" Chloe said.

"I like you as a brunette actually. It suits your pale skin. I just wish I had enough to hold onto when I kiss you" he admitted.

Chloe chuckled. "I can hardly complain about that seeing I was trying to rip yours out just a moment ago".

Sam leaned over and kissed her softly. "Pull all you want love, it feels good. Well don't actually rip it out mind you".

Chloe tangled her fingers in his hair, pulling his mouth down again for a longer kiss. Her tongue slipped in between his eager lips as she held his mouth to hers by the soft locks in question. He opened his mouth readily to her seeking tongue with a groan. His lips were sweet and warm above hers. Chloe's heart started beating faster in response to his passionate nature. God this man drove her wild.

Sam wrapped an arm around her shoulders as he leaned into her bending her backwards. His mouth latched onto hers passionately. She felt helpless and out of balance as he held her laid halfway back towards the mattress. Chloe moaned and arched up towards his body, needing this so badly. They had been apart too long, her body was aching to feel his touch again.

"Sam! When I let you stay here after visiting hours, this was not what I had in mind" a voice came from the doorway.

Sam pulled back quickly with a blush at the nurse. This was a different nurse than had been there earlier. "Sorry, we just haven't seen each other in months."

He helped Chloe get situated on the bed. The nurse, Amanda, walked over and checked on Chloe's leg. "Well that is looking very good. We can probably take out the stitches on the smallest one tomorrow. Let me see if the doctor is available while we have you un-bandaged".

Amanda walked out briskly. Chloe burst into laughter the moment the door was shut. "We just can't catch a break can we"? Sam asked.

"I have to admit, I am beginning to wonder if we are cursed. I have been trying to lure you into my bed from the day we met" Chloe grinned.

Sam blushed and hugged her. "I will get you alone soon" he whispered in her ear. "Then I am going to worship every inch of your body. I am going to make love to you for hours".

By the time the doctor walked in Sam was sitting as well behaved as he could wish in the chair by her bed. He had not however been so well behaved even seconds before the door opened. Chloe just hoped that the doctor didn't attribute her flush to a fever.

He looked over her wound and approved removing the stitches from the smallest of them. He asked her a lot of questions about how she was feeling. Chloe answered him honestly for the most part. She just kept things on the positive side.

The doctor announced that she would be free to leave in the morning. He told her she should see her own doctor at home in a week or sooner if she had any problems. They had already given her a sheet of at home exercises when she was discharged three days ago. She was to do once them as she could once the wound healed enough. When he left, Amanda removed the stitches from the smallest of the wounds then bandaged her leg again.

"Now you two behave or I will have him tossed out of here" she reprimanded them on her way out.

Chloe grinned up at Sam sheepishly. "So want to help me with my Latin"?

Sam grabbed her book and pushed her over so he could sit beside her. He opened the book and began to read to her. Chloe rested her head on his shoulder peacefully.

They spent the rest of the evening studying Latin and whispering sweet nothings to each other. By mutual consent, they did not discuss anything they would argue about for the rest of the evening. When a new nurse came by on her nightly rounds she kicked Sam out telling him to go home.

"Please go get some rest love. You look exhausted. I'll be here in the morning waiting for you".

Sam gave her a loving lingering kiss before gathering his things to leave. "Dean dropped me off, so I am going to take your bike back to the campground if that's okay".

"Be good to my baby. She belonged to one of the best men I will ever know".

"I promise" he said as he grabbed her keys and walked out the door.

Checking out of the hospital turned out to be something of an ordeal. Sage Baker didn't have insurance. She also didn't have a social security number to apply for assistance with. Chloe gave them a random number which pulled up an old guy in Ohio. She apologized profusely and promised to send them the number once she got home. What she really planed to do was cash out some of her diamonds and settle her bill in cash.

Eventually they got it all sorted out. The Hospital insisted on pushing her to the front door in a wheelchair. Sam helped her to stand up, but she walked to the car mostly under her own power. Now that she was up and moving around, the muscles in her leg were loosening up again. Sam helped her into the car and climbed into the driver's seat. He had brought the Impala to pick her up from the hospital. He told her he left her bike at the campground where he had ridden it last night. That was good. Then she wouldn't need a ride to pick up her bike. She could leave from the campground anytime she liked.

"It's so good to be out of there. I hate being in the hospital" Chloe said.

"I am happy you are out too" he grinned. "Now I can kiss you without incurring the wrath of the nursing staff".

"Who said you were going to be getting any kisses Mr. Gable?" Chloe quipped with a smile. "Hospital cuisine and Latin lessons do not romance make".

"Well I guess I will just have to try harder then. I aim to get a lot of kisses from you" Sam smiled.

Chloe laid her head back against the seat and closed her eyes. It felt good to be out of the hospital, even better to be with Sam. They had spent so little time actually in the same room, hell in the same state even. Being with him she felt content.

"You tired sweetheart?" he asked her softly.

"Not physically, just tired".

"If your leg starts hurting you, put your foot on my lap to straighten your leg out" Sam suggested.

Chloe laughed. "It's only a half an hour to get to the park hon. I don't think I am going to stiffen up in that short a period of time".

"Chloe about that" Sam said tentatively.

"Sam?"

"Chloe I can't let you run off on that bike while your leg is still injured" he said.

"Sam what are you talking about?" Chloe said suspiciously.

"Look Chloe, I know you feel like you need to be on your own, and I appreciate how well you are handling all of this. But I won't let you keep running yourself into the ground" Sam said.

"It's my life and my choice Sam".

"No it isn't. None of this is your choice. You should be back home with your friends and family" Sam said.

"Yes, I would rather be home than roaming the countryside like a modern day Karen Blixen. That isn't what I meant. I know you want to protect me Sam, but don't you understand that I need just as badly to protect you. I can't, no I won't bring down my troubles on your head".

"Chloe your troubles are my troubles. If I had problems like yours, I know you would do everything in your power to fix them for me".

Chloe looked over at Sam trying to weigh the seriousness of his words. He was right actually, she would. That didn't negate the fact that a little caution now might save them years of trouble ahead. She knew when they got to the campground she would likely be given the same speech in different words from the two other members of her new family. That is what these brave men were becoming for her. They were her new family complete with gruff protective father. Then she had irritating teasing older brother who she knew would lay down his life for her. And then there was his brother the obsessively protective, just a bit too possessive love of her life.

"You're right Sam I…" Chloe looked at the passing scenery. "Sam you're going the wrong way. The campground is east not west".

"Chloe, I have been trying to tell you, but we got side tracked. I am not taking you back to the Campground. We are going to Bobby's house".

"What! Sam I want you to take me back to the campground right now. You do not get to decide where I go or who I stay with" Chloe said irritably.

"Sweetheart calm down please. It wouldn't do any good to take you back to the campground. Dean left 2 hours ago on your bike".

"That is just not fair to take advantage of a girl when she is sick. Dean is so going to get it when I see him. Don't think I don't realize who's idea this was mister. The only reason I am not braining you with the nearest heavy object is because you are driving".

"Love, we don't want to take advantage of you. We just want to take care of you. All three of us talked about it last night. We all agreed that you needed someplace to stay until you healed up enough to ride your bike comfortably again. Right now you would have trouble running if you had to, or you would end up tearing your stitches. I won't lie. You know I would rather you traveled with us. But you are right. You are an adult and we can't make your decisions for you. However, you did already promise Bobby that you would stay with him for a week. He said he was going to teach you to shoot. I don't think the DDS would have any way to connect Bobby with you. You have never talked to him on the phone before this week. What is the harm in doing that now rather than waiting?" Sam said persuasively.

Chloe sighed. He was right. She knew he was. "Okay, your reasoning is sound Sam, but I do not appreciate your high handedness. You really have a tendency to go a bit too far Sam".

"I know and I hope that you will forgive me. I am only doing this because I care for you. How would you follow the doctor's diet while traveling? I really am concerned about your weight. I love you Chloe, it would kill me if something happened to you".

"Okay I give. You three can play nursemaid to me for a week. If you do something like this again however, you will be in so much trouble".


	8. Chapter 8

**Evasion – 8/?**  
By Deliciously Weird  
Pairing: Chloe/Sam  
Characters: Chloe Sullivan, Bobby Singer, Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester, Bobby Singer  
Rating: This is an adult fiction, it is not appropriate for children of any age. (Adult Language, Violence, off screen death and Sexual situations)

Series: At Home in Your Heart – Book 2 (Book 1 - Ineffable)

Description: Truly alone for the first time in her life, Chloe tries to cope while being hunted.

Warnings: Spoilers for up to season 8 Smallville and up to season 3 supernatural. This is AU but prior character history is mostly canon. I do not have a beta, so all mistakes are my own.

Disclaimer: All recognized characters from Supernatural are property of Eric  
Kripke/CW. All characters, references, and other things pertaining to Smallville are property of the WB, DC Comics, Tollin-Robins, Al Gough & Miles Millar, and J. Siegal & J. Shuster. I make no money for my labors, only friends.

Chloe decided about an hour into their trip to Bobby's house that she might as well make the best of the situation. Sitting in stony silence was punishing both of them. Sam already knew how she felt about everything. She decided to treat this time with Sam as a gift. She would be missing him soon enough once she got back on the road.

She slid over closer to Sam on the seat. He looked at her in surprise and then put his arm around her shoulders. She slid closer pressing against his side. He kissed her forehead then turned his eyes back to the road.

"Decided to forgive me then?" he asked.

"Nope," Chloe grinned. "I decided to love you anyway".

"Well I am glad to hear that" Sam chuckled.

"You do know that I want to be with you just as badly as you want me there right"?

"Then be with me. You don't have to fight this on your own sweetheart. Is it so bad that I want to protect you" he asked?

Chloe sighed. "No it isn't love. I adore how protected and cared for you make me feel. If I promise to think about it can we spend the rest of this trip pretending to be a happy normal couple" she asked?

"We defiantly are not normal, but being with you makes me happy" Sam said.

"That was truly sappy" she laughed.

"What can I say? I am in love" he smiled at her.

"You are a nut, that's what you are".

The rest of the drive was pleasant. They talked about classes they had taken in college. Chloe could hear in his voice just how much he regretted having to leave it behind. She made a vow to herself to do everything she could to give him a second chance at a college education. She couldn't afford to go back herself. All of her course work was under her old identity, so they didn't count. Maybe she could hack into a college and make transcripts for herself in a few years. It would be best to wait until she could make them at least four years old. When they ran out of courses to discuss, Sam quizzed her on the Latin they had been studying the other night.

"That is amazing Chloe," he said. "You remember almost everything that we went through. I knew you were smart, but I didn't realize just how brilliant you are".

Chloe blushed and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I just remember stuff" she said. "I've always had an easy time remembering stuff".

Sam kissed the top of her head. "I'm in love with a genius" Sam said with a grin.

Chloe slapped his chest and snorted indignantly. "Cut it out you nut job"

"Since you have such an excellent memory, I would like you to learn something in Latin by rote. If you ever have to exorcise a demon, it will be much easier on you if you know it by heart" Sam explained.

"It sounds like a great idea Sam".

"I have it memorized. We could start now. You would just need to repeat after me".

"I actually learn better from reading. If we start working on it now however, I will have a much easier time with pronunciation later. I just won't memorize it quite as quickly this way".

"We have hours sweetheart. If you like we can get started now".

"Alright Sam, hit me with the Latin mojo" Chloe chuckled.

"_Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica"_

They spent a good hour working through the exorcism rite. Chloe didn't quite have it by rote when they called it quits, but she felt that with a little work on her own she would be able to have it memorized completely.

It would be early afternoon before they got to Bobby's house. Sam had insisted that they stop for lunch on the way. The man was developing an unhealthy fetish about what she was eating for sure. She couldn't deny him though. He practically glowed with happiness when she finished most of her meal. She couldn't understand how she had ever thought she was in love with Clark. Looking back on her feelings then, she knew they were small and selfish compared to how she felt about Sam. She had wanted Clark to be her world. She wanted to give Sam the world.

Now that she would probably never see him again, she really understood how Clark had felt about Lana all these years. She had thought that he was a complete fool. He spent years pining after her hardly ever looking at another woman. Now that she had Sam, she knew if he ever turned from her she would be devastated.

There were actually a lot of parallels if you thought about it. She had loved Sam from a distance before being able to be together. She had a secret that she did not want Sam to find out about. She was afraid if he found out the truth that his feelings would change. She stayed away from him to protect him from the consequences of her secret and how she had chosen to live her life. All of those statements applied to Clark and Lana. Look at them now however. Lana finally knew all of Clark's secrets and she loved him anyway. Could she tell Sam the truth about her life? Not all of it of course, many of the secrets that she held were not hers to give away. Chloe sighed.

"You okay sweetheart"?

"Yes just tired of being in the car, ready to get out and stretch my leg".

"We will be there in 30-45 minutes, is that soon enough or should I pull over now"?

"That's fine Sam. I can wait".

Chloe had urged Clark to tell Lana the truth if he wanted to have a real lasting relationship with her. Chloe knew that she was being a coward, but she couldn't take the chance. Knowing the truth about her wouldn't likely put him in anymore danger than he already was. So she couldn't claim noble intentions like Clark. She was just so afraid that he would stop loving her. He was all she had now. What would she do if he turned from her? Yeah, introspection sucked. She wondered if Echo would tattoo hypocrite on her forehead if she asked her.

She wished with all her heart that she could see Clark right now. Even more than Sam, right now she needed her best friend to hold her and tell here everything would be alright. She missed her life and her job yes. But most of all she missed Clark and Lois.

Chloe pulled herself out of her internal musings when Sam pulled the car into Singer Salvage. Bobby came out onto the porch to greet them when they pulled into the yard. Once Sam had helped her get out of the car she turned her attention to Bobby. Limping along with Sam's firm hand guiding her she came to stand in front of the older man.

"You are in so much trouble you old reprobate. Since when do you three get to make decisions about my life"?

"Since you almost died and made me your uncle and medical proxy you idjit".

Chloe could help it she laughed. "Okay so you have a point there. Don't think however that you are going to get away with behavior like that all the time".

Chloe hugged the startled man and kissed his cheek. "Thanks for letting me stay with you a while".

The flustered man opened the door and waved her in. "Well you are Sam's girl, which makes you family too. You treat my niece right or I will skin you alive boy".

"I will".

"Hello Princess" Dean said walking up wiping oil stained hands on a rag.

"You Mister are in so much trouble. You Stole my Bike!" Chloe got up in Dean's face.

"Calm down beautiful" Dean said clearly amused. "I didn't hurt your baby".

"I'll believe that when I see it" Chloe said with an arched eyebrow. She looked around the yard. "Where is she"?

"I have her out back".

Chloe walked around the house looking for her bike. What she saw made her gasp. "You,…you,…YOU… Took my Bike Apart!" She whirled and stalked, okay make that limp-stalked over to Dean. "What the hell Dean"?

"Whoa whoa whoa, slow down Princess. I am not hurting your baby. She was stuttering a little on the way over. I am just doing some maintenance on her. I wouldn't want you to get stuck out on the road somewhere. She will be running better than ever when I am done".

Chloe shook her finger at him. "I don't know if I should be furious with you or thank you, you jerk. How do I know that this isn't just an excuse to keep me from leaving"?

"Well I won't say that didn't occur to me. Truth is, your baby is an old darling and she needs tender loving care" he said.

Chloe kissed him on the cheek then slapped him on the chest. "Just take good care of her or I will skin you. That bike means a lot to me". She was really channeling Lois lately with beating on the men in her life.

Dean grinned at her. "You gotta like a woman who loves a powerful machine. You sure you don't want to dump geek boy and get with a real man"?

"Bobby is too old for me" Chloe said smiling sweetly. She heard the other two men cough behind her.

"You wound me Princess" Dean grinned.

"Listen up Mario, tune up not supe up. I don't need the thing to go 200mph. Yeah, I know I just broke your heart" Chloe said as Dean stated to open his mouth with a pout.

Chloe slowly walked around the yard for a while trying to loosen up the muscles in her leg. Sam followed beside her but kept his hands to himself after the first glare. "The doctor said that walking would be good for me. The wounds are healing well. I need to use the leg if I want to get back to normal quickly".

"Just don't over do it" Sam said.

Chloe let that one slide. Honestly the man was adorable.

Chloe was confused. They had been at Bobby's house for 2 days now and Sam was treating her more like a sister than a girlfriend. He was solicitous. He always made sure he was there when she needed him, but he rarely kissed her. When he did kiss her it was sweet and restrained, not the towering inferno of passion she knew was inside him. She was starting to wonder if he had decided he just wasn't physically attracted to her. Hell Dean was more flirtatious with her than Sam was any given hour of the day.

She had expected Bobby to be the one that taught her to shoot, that was after all the original plan. It turned out to be Dean that took her out to the back side of the lot every morning to show her how to shoot. If it wasn't going to be Bobby, she wondered why it wasn't Sam. That man was going to drive her to drink.

Dean turned out to be an admirable instructor. She expected him to be off hand and flirtatious, but the man was all business when they were working with firearms. He did come and stand close behind her when she shot, but he maintained a respectful distance and only touched her to correct or congratulate. After a while, Chloe asked him the questions that had been burning in her mind.

"So Casanova, why are you the one teaching me to shoot"?

"You mean why not Sammy? Well for one thing, I am the better shot of the two of us. But the main reason is, contrary to what you see in the movies, firearms and romance have no business together. It's too important to get this right. Sammy would be more apt to be distracted with you, or you by him. For some reason you seem completely immune to my charms".

"I am not sure that is much of a problem at all. He has been treating me like his favorite kid sister" Chloe said irritably. "What is up with him? Is he always so fickle"?

Dean groaned. "You are going to force me into this chick flick moment aren't you"?

"Suck it up Arnold; I don't think your masculinity is in question".

He led her over to an old car and they took a seat on the rusty trunk. "Listen Princess, Sammy is not the kind of guy to take things like this lightly. He has barely looked at any other woman. Before he met you he had been living like a monk for almost over a year. I don't know what he has going on in that immense brain of his, but I don't think he has lost interest".

"Then I just don't understand. We have been apart so long. All I want is to be near him" Chloe said with a sigh.

"Tell you what. I'll get Bobby and me out of the house; give you two a couple of hours to talk. Well I hope not only to talk" Dean said with a leer.

Chloe shoulder bumped him hard. "You are a complete letch, you know that"?

"Go with what you're good at I always say. Now pick up that shotgun and let's work with some live rounds rather than salt".

"How is she coming along"? Bobby asked when they came in the door.

"She will be a good shot with her pistol fairly quickly. She can barely hit the broad side of a barn, or a Toyota in this case, with a shotgun. Give her a few more weeks of practice and she will be deadly with a side arm, and hopefully less unintentionally deadly with the shot gun" Dean said sardonically.

Chloe threw a mock punch at him. "Regretfully true, I swear I am doing everything he tells me to, but the thing just won't behave".

"I'll take you out tomorrow and we will see if I can help you understand better than this block head".

"Honestly, he was a great teacher, much better than I was expecting" Chloe said.

"I honestly don't know which of the two of you just insulted me more". Dean said as he grabbed a beer.

"Well you did say go with what you are good at Dean. Can I help it that mocking you is one of my gifts" she said with a brilliant smile his direction.

"Keep that up and I'll tell Sammy to run away from you" Dean said.

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Try my Princess".

"Just finish putting my bike back together grease monkey" Chloe quipped.

"Yes your highness".

Chloe snorted at his back as he left then walked over to sit down beside Bobby. She was really starting to love that man. Dean was becoming a good friend to her. Bobby passed a book over to her. This was her unofficial education. He didn't actively teach her anything, though he would answer questions if asked. He simply handed her a book every day. Chloe opened her book. Today's lesson was on lycanthropes of every available species. More fascinating than the very dry book on symbols and wards he gave her yesterday. A werepanther sounded kind of sexy, but a werepig? Okay that was just bizarre. According to the book a werepig was dangerous, vicious, cunning and unpredictable. They were exceedingly rare but incredibly formidable.

This was a big point of contention in her relationship. Sam had been difficult about it. He didn't want her to hunt period. It didn't seem to occur to him that if he wanted her to travel with him; she would be safer hunting with them than left behind alone. Dean supported her decision to learn everything she could. Chloe guessed that he really wasn't completely happy about her being along at all, but wasn't saying anything because of Sam. Come to think of it, that was the fight that had started Sam's change in attitude.

Chloe sighed in exasperation causing Bobby to look up at her. Was he still mad because she told him there was nothing he could do to stop her from being a hunter? Yeah he probably was. Chloe rubbed her temples to relieve the pressure of an oncoming headache. Worrying about this wasn't going to help. She would just have to talk to Sam tonight. Chloe wasn't sure what he was off doing this afternoon, but he had left the house early this morning.

With another sigh Chloe turned her attention back to her book. Hopefully Sam would be able to accept things if they were presented fait accompli. She just couldn't see herself not being involved. That wasn't how things had been in her old life. She wasn't a sit on the sidelines kind of girl. How could she prove to him that she was strong enough to be his partner as well as his girl?

Chloe was two thirds of the way through her book when Sam came back. She smiled at him when he came into the room. Sam walked over to her and slid his hand behind her neck tilting her head back. She was disappointed when he only brushed his lips across her forehead. It was warm and affectionate, but had none of the passionate burning possessiveness he had seared her with before.

Chloe stood up and held out her hand to Sam silently. When he took it she led him outside. She crossed the yard and led him to the same rusty trunk that she and Dean had sat on earlier. "Sam, I was wondering if we could talk a minute".

Sam looked a little apprehensive. "What do you want to talk about Chloe"?

"It's just; I have to admit that I am a bit confused and worried. Things have been different between us the past few days. I guess the first thing I should ask you is if you have changed your mind. Have your feelings for me changed"?

"No, God no Chloe" Sam said fervently.

Chloe took a deep relieved breath. She bowed her head for a moment and closed her eyes breathing slowly. "Okay given that you still love me, then I am okay. Whatever is going on I know we can work it out. It occurred to me that you are still upset that I am learning to shoot, learning to hunt".

Sam leaned back on the car looking up into the sky. "I can't say that isn't part of it Chloe. I felt like I needed to back off and give you room. Everything has been crazy the last few months. Your life has been turned upside down. Then we race in and start taking things over. I know that had to be very frustrating for you. I feel like all of your choices have been taken from you. You loose your old life, and then we take away what little stability you had managed to create".

Chloe leaned back on the car beside him resting her head on his shoulder. "I really don't deserve you Sam. You are always thinking about what is best for me. I don't always agree with you, but you always take care of me".

"I love you Chloe Sullivan. I will always protect you" he answered.

"You do know that I am capable of taking care of myself too right"?

Sam hooked an arm around her and pulled her close to him. "I hate the very idea of you hunting sweetheart. I hate the thought of you being in danger. I hate the thought of you living our lives. Most of all I hate that you even know about this stuff. If I could have kept you innocent of the evil in the world I would have".

"Sam I was poking into the strange and disturbing long before you showed up in my life. You can't blame yourself for the choices that I make. Heck if you hadn't shown up to rescue me, I might very well have gotten killed in that root cellar on the judge's property" she said quietly. "You did more than open my eyes to your world, you saved my life".

Sam pulled her tighter against him at those words. "I know I can't stop you sweetheart. I hope that I can convince you to be much more careful. I need you to listen to Dean and me when we are hunting. Not only could your life, but ours could depend on it".

"I swear to you Sam, as long as you aren't being ridiculously protective or possessive then I will do what you tell me. I know that you two have much more experience than I do. We will find a happy medium" she replied.

"You have been dumped into this live without being given any real choice" Sam said seriously. "You can't say this is the life you would have chosen to live".

"Yes and no" she answered. "I will always be the one going out poking my nose into things I probably aught not to. That's who I am Sam. No, given a free choice I wouldn't live this live exactly. But I would live a life similar to this one. It is my own choices that have put me in this situation. Sometimes you have to choose to risk your own safety to save others. I know you understand that it isn't a choice, it's just what you have to do".

"I don't have to like it" he said.

"I can't say for sure what I would have done in different circumstances. If I had found out there was something evil in Smallville I would have called you. That choice would have been swayed as much by my desire to see you as the need for a hand. I would like to think that eventually I would have started handling things on my own. Have you as someone to call for advice surely, but hunting those things that decided to move into my area. Clark would always be there to back me up so I would not have been alone. More like Bobby, be a hunter but with a real home to return to".

"I can really see that actually. Things have been really rough on you lately. I just don't want to add to your stress level. I wanted you to have time to think about this. I won't stop you from leaving if that is what you really want. I will worry about you all the time. I thought you would be safer with us. But look what happened to you on your first hunt. Maybe you will be safer away from us".

"This is far from my first hunt Sam. Do you really think I would have been able to walk away from those people even without Bobby to help me? I probably would have ended up calling in someone from my old life to help, but I would not have walked away. I am a part of this life now, that can't be changed. I can't unlearn what I know. There is no second chance at innocence".

"I really am trying not to be so possessive. I know you haven't liked it when I man handle you" Sam explained.

"That is what this is all about! That is the reason you have been so standoffish? Sam I could slap you".

"What? I have been nothing but a gentleman. What have I done to upset you"?

Chloe rolled over on top of him and straddled his waist. Digging her fingers into his hair she gave it a little tug then leaned over and bit his lower lip hard enough to hurt.

"What if I don't want a gentleman"? Chloe asked him huskily. "What if I want my passionate possessive beast of a man back"?

"Oh god" Sam groaned. He wrapped one arm around her waist and the other hand cupped the back of her head as he pulled her body tightly against his. Chloe could feel him growing hard as they pressed close together. "Are you sure this is what you want Chloe. I need you too much to wait for long if we start this again".

"Who said anything about waiting"? was her answer.

Sam pulled her mouth to his and ravaged her lips heatedly. The hand on the back of her head held her mouth prisoner to his. His tongue thrust forward parting her lips forcefully as the passion that he had been reining in came burst out to scorch them both. His other hand slid down her back to rest high on her behind right in the middle. His hand pushed tilting her hips down to his as he thrust up wantonly against her. He was completely hard now and pressing insistently against her heat. She ached to feel him naked beneath her body. Chloe felt like she was standing in the middle of a hurricane. This, god yes this was her man, her love.

"I want you so bad Chloe. I have been going nuts not toughing you, tasting you" he said hoarsely.

Chloe soothed a hand gently through his bangs and whispered against his parted lips. "You can take anything you want my love. I am completely yours".

"If I want to make love to you all night long that is okay? If I want to bite you, mark you as mine alone that is okay? If I want to drive you so far out of your mind that you scream my name as the only word left to you that is fine"?

"That is so much more than fine Sam. That sounds like heaven to me" Chloe agreed fervently.

Sam groaned and pushed her off tucking her beside him. "Hotel, we can go to a hotel for the night" Sam said. Sam was breathing slowly. He was obviously trying to calm down.

"Dean promised to get Bobby out of the house for a few hours tonight. We should go see if they are gone yet".

Sam grinned at her. "I feel like a naughty kid planning on sneaking out of the house" he admitted.

"Well I like the naughty part anyway" Chloe grinned.

"How is your leg? Will you be okay to…?" Sam trailed off.

"Yes I should be fine to have sex Sam" Chloe giggled. Get the man turned on and he said the most wicked things imaginable. Ask him to even say the word sex otherwise and he blushed. He sure was a contradiction. He was a sexy, messy, possessive, wonderful contradiction.

They walked back to the house together. Sam had his arm around her shoulder and was holding her close to his body. Dean took one look at them and grinned wickedly. When Sam's back was turned he winked at Chloe. She being the mature individual that she was stuck her tongue out at him. Dean's smile just got wickeder and Chloe rolled her eyes.

Bobby had made dinner so they all sat down to eat. Chloe learned one very important thing. Bobby couldn't cook. It was edible but bland to the point of anesthetizing her taste buds. Chloe smiled brilliantly as she added salt and pepper with a generous hand.

Chloe offered to clean up after dinner and Dean hung around and dried the dishes for her. He got a kiss on the cheek for his troubles. Dean smacked her with a towel and let her know that the house would be free this evening. Dean must have set something up with Bobby earlier, because he walked into the den and told bobby they had better get going.

Chloe could feel her cheeks flushing already. Dean and probably Bobby too knew damn well what would be going on once they left. Chloe left the room in self defense. Walking into the kitchen she leaned forward against the counter. Her hands rested on the countertop in front of her. Chloe heard the front door close, but couldn't bring herself to move. She felt as if she were rooted to the spot.

Her eyes were closed but she knew when he entered the room. He walked lightly for such a big man. Still she heard him when he crossed the room to stand behind her. His hand came to rest on her shoulder.

"You know you can change your mind. I will be happy to just spend time alone talking and holding you" Sam said.

Chloe leaned back into his body keeping her eyes closed and her hands resting on the edge of the counter. She felt like she needed something to hold onto. "It's not that love. It's just that we have been so long getting here. I keep expecting a ghoul or something to jump out of the cupboard".

Sam chuckled and wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her close. "We do seem to be cursed with constant hindrances and interruptions. Come here sweetheart".

Sam led her over to the stereo and turned on some music. Pulling her into his arms he swayed back and forth. Chloe felt a bit of tightness in her thigh but that was it. With her accelerated healing, it was doing very well. She was consciously pretending that it was less healed to deflect suspicion. His arms around her felt strong and sure as they moved. She sighed and just leaned into him resting her head on his chest. This felt absolutely wonderful. She counted the beats of his heart as he held her close. He always seemed to know what she was feeling. How he had known she needed this she couldn't say, but it was exactly right.

They danced for several songs before his hands started to wander over her body. At first he was just rubbing her shoulders causing the tension in them to ease. Slowly he pulled her closer to his body until she was pressed firmly against him. Chloe ran her hands up his back trailing her fingers over the muscles.

His right hand cupped the back of her head. His thumb lay across her jaw line and he pushed softly to raise her eyes to his. "Will you come upstairs with me sweetheart? I want so much to make love to you".

Chloe smiled up at him feeling completely safe wrapped in his arms. It felt like home being with him. She would always be at home as long as he held her in his heart.


	9. Chapter 9

**Evasion – 9/9**  
By Deliciously Weird  
Pairing: Chloe/Sam  
Characters: Chloe Sullivan, Bobby Singer, Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester, Bobby Singer  
Rating: This is an adult fiction, it is not appropriate for children of any age. (Adult Language, Violence, off screen death and graphic sexual situations)

Series: At Home in Your Heart – Book 2 (Book 1 - Ineffable)

Description: Truly alone for the first time in her life, Chloe tries to cope while being hunted.

Warnings: Spoilers for up to season 8 Smallville and up to season 3 supernatural. This is AU but prior character history is mostly canon. I do not have a beta, so all mistakes are my own.

Disclaimer: All recognized characters from Supernatural are property of Eric  
Kripke/CW. All characters, references, and other things pertaining to Smallville are property of the WB, DC Comics, Tollin-Robins, Al Gough & Miles Millar, and J. Siegal & J. Shuster. I make no money for my labors, only friends.

Chloe was excited but extremely nervous as she followed Sam upstairs. True, she wasn't a virgin but it had been so long ago that she was the next best thing. She really hoped this lived up to her expectations. Lois told her, in way too intimate detail, just how wonderful sexy could be with the right person. You couldn't prove that by Chloe's experience. It had been awkward and fumbling. Her overall impression was that it was somewhat sweet but completely unsatisfying and somewhat mortifying. Then the jerk never once called or emailed her again.

She felt completely out of her depth. Surely Sam was much more experienced than she was. What if he was disappointed? What if she didn't live up to his expectations? He had lived with his girlfriend hadn't he? Here she was the girl who couldn't even get a boyfriend. Okay so part of that was because she was hung up on Clark for so long, but still.

They walked down the hall and Sam opened the door to her room. Something told Chloe that this was normally Sam's room. He couldn't be comfortable sleeping on one of the twin beds in the other room. Chloe slid her hand out of Sam's so he wouldn't feel it shaking. She didn't want him to think for one second that this wasn't what she wanted.

"Are you sure sweet heart, you seem nervous"? he asked.

Of course he noticed her apprehension. He always could read her like a book. God why didn't he just get on with it? Once he was holding her in his arms all her nerves and fears of inadequacy would flee before the strength of the passion he stirred in her.

"Sam, I am sure honestly. It's just that, I don't really know how to do this. No, I Know how to do this but I just,…" Chloe shut up before that sentence got anymore painful.

"Chloe, can I ask? How long has it been for you?" Sam asked softly. "I don't want to hurt you love".

"It was years ago and just that one time. I never really…" Chloe groaned and wrapped her arms around his waist hiding her face in his chest.

"Shhhhh, Its okay sweet heart, we will go slowly. I don't want to do anything that makes you uncomfortable. You are my heart and I will always take care of you" Sam reassured her.

"I trust you Sam" Chloe said softly. She closed the door behind her shutting them away in the privacy of her bedroom.

Sam took her hand and crossed over to the bed. He sat on the edge and pulled her over to stand in front of him. With his height advantage lessened she didn't feel so vulnerable. His head was just about even with hers now.

Chloe leaned into his warmth resting her forehead on his. "We have been waiting for this so long. I need you Sam".

Sam kissed her softly. His lips were gentle and teasing. "You have me hon, always".

Chloe sighed and pushed his hair back off his forehead. This man was hers, she couldn't believe her luck. She placed sweet kisses on his brow and lips. Winding her arms around his neck she pulled his lips back to hers more firmly.

They traded sweet chaste kisses for several long moments. Slowly the tension seeped from her body. This was Sam, he would never hurt her. He would never fail her. She already trusted him with her heart, her life. Now she would give him her body willingly. She would give him the world if he asked for it.

Sam's hands had been gently rubbing up and down her back. His fingers went from gentle to firm as she slowly relaxed in his arms. Sam sighed and his lips parted beneath hers. Chloe moaned softly and parted her lips for him. Sam pulled her down to sit on his left thigh. He hooked his left arm around her waist to steady her as his kiss grew more fervent. He thrust his tongue into her mouth searchingly, twining it with her own. Their kisses turned slow, long and heated. There was passion there, but it was the passion of low banked embers. It burned hot but with no flare of flame to show.

God this feels so good, Chloe thought. It was like drowning in the best way. Sam turned to his left and slowly laid her back onto the bed. She looked up at him in wonder. His expression was full of caring. He was being so gentle with her.

"Do you trust me sweetheart"? he asked.

"With my life".

Sam leaned down over her and kissed her again. He kept the kiss languid. He seemed to be in no rush to consummate their relationship. His fingers ran slowly up her side from hip to shoulder. Her skin tingled in the wake of his touch.

"You are mine" he breathed almost inaudible against her lips as he gave her another loving kiss.

Running her hand up his arm Chloe smiled at his words. He felt so solid, so real to the touch. She nodded once then tangled her fingers in his gorgeous hair. Slow was good and fine, but she wanted to feel that edge of desperate want he was concealing so well.

Chloe nibbled along his lower lip gently licking the abused flesh after each tiny nibble. Sam groaned deeply and rolled over top of her pressing her down into the mattress. Loving his response she tangled her fingers tighter and gave him a deep passionate kiss. "Yours" she said.

Sam took a deep breath. Chloe felt him shudder slightly as he paused above her his forehead pressed to hers. Sam slid his right hand down from her shoulder and gently cupped her breast through the fabric of her shirt. His lips trailed sweet kisses down her neck as his thumb flicked over her nipple until it hardened to an aching point.

"Mine" he said huskily as he lowered his mouth to her breast and sucked that aching peak into his mouth. He closed his teeth delicately around it worrying it until Chloe gasped out his name.

"Please" Chloe said softly.

Sam smiled wickedly at her and slowly started to unbutton her blouse. One fastening at a time her chest was exposed. Each time he released the fabric he would press a kiss to the newly discovered flesh. When he finished he pushed the fabric back on either side and paused to look at her. Her sun kissed skin glowed warm against the white lace of her bra. He trailed one finger tip down the edge of the lace cup making her skin tingle and her breath catch as it brushed close to her nipple.

"So beautiful" Sam said. He slid his finger in under the edge of the lace and flicked it back and forth over her already tender nipple.

"Please Sam. Touch me" Chloe asked.

Sam took her lip between his teeth and bit gently pulling at it before steeling a heated kiss. Sam's whole hand slid beneath the lace of her bra to cup her breast squeezing. Chloe arched up into his touch with a pleading whine wanting to feel more. He started to knead her breast firmly. God, yes that felt so good. Chloe moaned into his mouth fingers wrapped into his hair holding his mouth to hers as she returned his kiss passionately.

"Shhhh. Easy love, we aren't in a rush. We have hours" Sam said leaning back. He trailed his fingers slowly over her chest sliding his fingers along the lace of her bra, then down the flat plane of her stomach.

Chloe panted lightly he was going to drive her mad with this slow pace. Well two can play at that game. Putting her self defense training to good use Chloe pushed back on his right shoulder at the same time she pulled on his left elbow causing him to drop onto his back on the bed with a huff of surprise.

Chloe flipped over and straddled his hips. She loved the wicked joyful grin he gave her. She leaned over and kissed him softly on the mouth.

"You take too long" she pouted. Curling her fingers into claws she scrapped her nails along his scalp as she nibbled on his lips. Chloe loved the reaction she got to that. He groaned and his hips gave a tiny thrust up at her. She did it again to the exact same result. You really did have to repeat and experiment more than once to check the results. It was just good science.

Chloe slide back and sat up shivering in response to the feeling of sliding over his body. God he was so hot. She bit her lower lip and inhaled sharply. Now it was her turn to see what gifts she was unwrapping. Chloe trailed her hands up and down the planes of his chest. The soft fabric of his t-shirt was little impediment to her exploration. God he felt amazing. Chloe wanted to see him in the flesh now, she was done with waiting. She trailed her hands down his sides grinning when he jerked and laugh. Oh he was so in trouble later, she had no idea he was ticklish. Chloe smirked at him and saw his eyes widen a little. Laughing to herself she bypassed the temptation and headed towards her true goal. She skimmed down to the bottom edge of his t-shirt and grabbed it pulling it up his chest. Chloe leaned back a little to give him room.

"Up" she told him.

Chloe pulled as he lifted up off the mattress just enough to give her room to pull his shirt off. Oh wow! Chloe licked her lips. He was just guh! Seriously, it should be illegal to look that good. Sam was absolutely the sexiest man she had ever dated, that included her one date with Clark. Chloe indulged her need to explore. Using her fingers she mapped out each and every curve and plane of his chest and arms. Sam started to speak but she hushed him.

"Shhhh, my turn" she said playfully. Sam groaned softly in response.

Chloe rocked her hips forward once and he groaned again. Kneeling over him like this Chloe couldn't help but picture in her mind what it would be like to ride him. She had never done that before, the image intrigued her. To have Sam laid out at her mercy while she took her time. Chloe shivered at the image in her head. They were definitely going to do that one day soon, if not tonight.

She curled her fingers into claws again and raked them over the planes of his chest. She started at his pecs and didn't stop until her fingers rested just above his belt. Sam groaned loudly and thrust up against her hard.

"Oh god baby, that feels so good!" he said panting.

She could feel him growing hard between them even through the thickness of two pair of jeans. Sam reached up and pushed her shirt back off her shoulders. Chloe shrugged it off letting it fall to the floor. Chloe once again raked his chest with her nails wanting to see his reaction again.

"Mmmmmm, you like that huh"? Chloe asked as he grabbed her hips and held her tightly to him to thrust up against her sex again. She could feel herself growing wet in response to his hard length thrusting against her. Sam tugged her firmly until she fell forward over his chest.

"Yes, you know I do you tease" he rasped out huskily. "Let's see how you like it".

He raked his nails gently up her back causing her to arch into his body and purr. Oh god that felt amazing! He trailed his nails up and then down again. Chloe helplessly, instinctually rocked against him wanting, needing more. Sam held her hips close against his and with his left hand and raked his right up the middle of her spine. When her hips flexed and she groaned loudly he thrust back against her with a long sigh of pleasure.

"I want you so much Chloe. I think I'll loose my mind if we get interrupted again" Sam said.

"I locked the door" Chloe said with a grin.

"Good, nothing will stop me taking you this time. I need to make you mine. I have to make you mine" Sam said with a touch of desperation in his sweet voice.

He reached up and tugged Chloe down onto his chest. Pulling her up to his mouth he kissed her with wild passion. She could feel the urgency of his need in his kiss. He thrust his tongue in deep and hard, searching for what she did not know. Chloe melted pliant across his chest and surrendered to the burning need in him. Just knowing how much he ached for her needed her, made her shudder with longing. Chloe gasped for breath when he released her lips. His hands slid up her back to the clasp of her bra, while his mouth trailed kisses down her neck.

Chloe felt rational thought slipping away. Her whole being was concentrated on this moment, this man. He released the hook on her bra and slid the straps down her arms. Chloe slipped her arms out and the cried out loudly as he yanked the bra out from between their close pressed chests and bit down on her neck at the same time.

"Oh yes. Please. Sam!" Chloe babbled as she thrust her hands down his sides and under his back to dig lightly with her nails.

"This is supposed to be slow and gentle" Sam said drawing deep breaths.

"Fuck gentle, just take me Sam" Chloe gasped.

Sam switched sides and bit along her neck again. His hands were resting on her sides cupping her breasts. Feeling her naked flesh pressed against his was like heaven. Both her nipples were achingly hard against his firm chest. They throbbed with need for his touch, his lips. Chloe rocked against Sam again, groaning in frustration. Sam had pulled her up his chest to reach her lips and she was uselessly rocking against his stomach. She wanted to feel him hard and needy against her.

He bit once harder on her neck sucking the flesh into his mouth. Chloe felt a flash of heat roll through her body and moaned shivering.

"Mmmmm" Sam sighed then bit again a bit harder while sucking on the base of her neck.

Chloe gasped and rocked and cried out. "Yes Sam!" Her sex was flowing with moisture and throbbing with need. She knew his teeth would leave a mark on her neck but did not care. Sam had said he would mark her, claim her for him only. She willingly gave up her body to this man who stole her heart.

Sam took her shoulders in his big hands and pushed her back away, revealing her naked breasts to his eyes. Chloe flushed in embarrassment and started to pull her hand out from under him to shield them. Sam placed his hand over hers stopping her from removing it.

"Leave it there. Don't move. Don't hide yourself from me my love" Sam said reverently. "You are so beautiful. Your breasts are lovely. I want to touch them all the time".

He leaned up and licked quickly over the tip of her right nipple. "I want to taste them all the time".

He pulled her up a little further until her chest was even with his mouth. He licked her nipple again and then sucked it into his mouth with a greedy little hum. Chloe didn't think her nipple could feel any harder, and then Sam started to suck on it. He drew on her with long hard pulls making her nipple tingle and burn.

"Yes, please" Chloe sighed. "Ahhh!" She cried out loudly when he nibbled the inflamed tip. Shocks of pleasure rolled through her body. Chloe thought she might come just from that.

"Baby you are so hot, so responsive" Sam said in a deep voice. "Don't hold back at all. Give me everything. Let go sweetheart".

Sam pulled her to his chest then rolled them over. He almost slid off the edge of the bed and chuckled. He let himself slide the rest of the way off and reached down to pull off her shoes and socks. He trailed his fingers playfully up the arch of her foot and got kicked in the stomach for his trouble which made him laugh again.

He trailed his hands up the outside her legs to the knees then moved them to the inside and slowly eased her knees apart. Leaning in towards her he moved his hands slowly up her inner thighs and stopped just short of her sex high on her inner thigh on either side. He leaned in and inhaled.

"You smell so good. I want to taste you. Will you let me taste how good it is"? He requested huskily.

Chloe nodded unable to bring herself to say the words. Sam accepted her permission quickly and started to unfasten her jeans. Chloe lifted her hips without being asked, eager to remove the barrier to his touch. Sam pulled her jeans down her legs and off. Chloe heard him take a deep breath and looked up to catch his eyes. His pupils were blow wide with passion as he gazed down on her naked save for a pair of tiny panties beneath him. Her panties were cream colored lace and partially see thru. Chloe flushed in embarrassment as Sam stared at her sex for several long moments before catching her eyes.

"Don't be embarrassed my love, you are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen".

Chloe lay down on the bed and closed her eyes. She couldn't help feeling a bit exposed. His eyes were devouring her greedily. She had never been laid out so before. Last time sex had been in the dark and under cover. He hadn't asked to see her, hadn't wanted to do what Sam had asked to do. Chloe ached to know what it would feel like. It was highly embarrassing actually, but there was nothing she would deny this man if he asked it.

He slid his hands under her hips and pulled her behind to the edge of the bed kneeling between her wantonly spread thighs. When had her legs fallen open like that again? Chloe flushed at her body's needy reaction. Sliding his hands back up her thighs and pressing her legs even further apart Sam leaned in and inhaled again.

"God you are so wet for me darling. Your panties are soaked with it. That makes me so hard knowing you want me so badly".

Sam leaned over and licked low across her belly just above her panty. He hooked his thumbs around the thin strap over her hips and pulled her panties down a bit more and licked again with a soft moan.

"Taste so good".

He didn't pull them down any further just yet, but left his hands where they were. Chloe felt his tongue licking high along her inner thighs first right, then left. Her hips thrust up towards his mouth begging for more. Chloe moaned and tossed her head. The man was going to drive her insane. The fingers of his hands slid under her butt and tilted her hips even more thrusting her sex out towards him. Chloe cried out loudly when his mouth closed over her sex hot and wet. He hummed in greedy pleasure and sucked at her through the fabric of her panties. He drew his lips down her sex sucking again a bit harder.

"Guh … guh… Sam!" Chloe's body was on fire. She wasn't sure how much more she could take. "Now! Please Sam now!"

With an animalistic snarl Sam pulled at her panties and snapped the strap. He flung the ruined scrap of lace away with a needy groan. "Mine!"

Sam's licked right up the middle of her pussy splitting her lips wide open and groaned as her moisture filled his mouth. His hands cupped her ass lifting her right off the bed and his mouth covered her pussy sucking at her moisture. Chloe felt wild and helpless. He was holding her up so she couldn't move, couldn't thrust. All she could do was lay there and take whatever he gave her. The next thing he gave her was his tongue thrusting deep into her vagina. He groaned loudly, the vibration carrying from his lips to her sex. He continued to thrust his tongue into her as deeply as he could over and over to drive her wild.

"You taste so fucking good Chloe. I want to eat you alive. I want you to come in my mouth. I want you to shake apart while I lick you, savor you. I want to taste the flavor of your completion" Sam rasped out.

Chloe shuddered and almost came from those words alone. God the man was so fucking hot. Chloe closed her eyes and let go. Then he found her clit with his tongue.

"Oh my GOD!" She cried out.

Sam laughed and stared flicking it back and forth with his tongue. Her clit was already aching and throbbing with need. The touch of his tongue made it feel like it was on fire.

"Yes… please yes… Sam"

Sam groaned and closed his mouth around her and sucked on her pussy again. Then he drew her clit out between his lips and suckled it. Chloe's body started to tremble and she keened in pleasure and his lips pulled and pulled. Her body was on fire, trembling and shaking. Sam pulled her clit into his lips further and then raked it oh so gently with his teeth.

"AHhhhh Fuck!" Chloe screamed out and shattered. "Sam!"

She thought her mind and heart were going to explode. Her heart was pounding a mile a minute. Chloe's body was gripped by rhythmic shudders as ecstasy coursed through her. It was the most intense feeling she had ever experienced. Slowly the shudders faded away. Her body felt completely non responsive. She lay there gripped by lassitude and shivering in reaction.

Chloe gasped for breath, taking in huge gulps of air. She kept helplessly saying "Oh god, oh god" between each breath. She was light headed and her extremities started to tingle.

"You okay sweetheart"? Sam asked.

He pulled her up into the middle of the bed and lay down next her cuddling her to his chest. He placed a kiss on her forehead and then rested his cheek on the top of her head.

Chloe cuddled in close to his hard body. God that was amazing. Her body was all tingly and shit. She had to ruthlessly stifle the impulse to giggle. That would not be a good thing to do during sex.

Chloe sighed deeply and hugged him closer. "That was amazing" she said softly.

Sam kissed her forehead. "You are amazing my love".

Chloe chuckled. She ran her hand down his chest affectionately. "I have never felt anything close to that before".

"Just wait until later sweetheart. Wait until we are truly together".

"Why wait? I think I am about to become an instant gratification sort of girl".

Sam smiled at her. "Is that so?"

"I am, you are doomed Sam" she said with a mock serious expression.

"Oh no, I have created a monster" he quipped. "Are you sure you are ready sweetheart"?

"Sam, I am so much more than ready. I have been ready since the moment I met you".

Sam rolled them over until she lay naked beneath him and kissed her warmly. "Then I think I am over dressed for the occasion".

Sam got up and stood beside the bed. His hands were on the waist of his pants but he stopped still. He looked at her with loving eyes. She saw him take her in from toes to head.

"You are so beautiful to me. I can't understand how I was fortunate enough to find you single and willing to give me a chance. I thank god that you were there waiting for me". He unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans and slid them off his hips. His thighs were as tight and muscular as his chest. His abs were enough to make any woman drool. You would never know under the loose easy clothing that he wore lay the body of a Greek god.

"You are the one who is beautiful Sam" Chloe said huskily. "You are so big and strong. You make me feel small and cherished".

Sam smiled at her. "You are and you always will be sweet heart. I will never let anything hurt you".

He sat down on the bed next to her leaving his boxers on. His hand cupped her cheek as he bent down to kiss her gently. "I know how lucky I am to have found you. I won't ever take for granted that I have you".

He leaned over top of her holding himself up with his arms, kneeling on the bed beside her. They kissed slowly like thick honey. The taste of him was sweet on her lips. Chloe was content now to follow the pace he set. The hard edge of her need softened now. He lowered his body half onto hers pressing her down into the mattress. Chloe loved the feel of him big and solid on top of her. He did not press his lower body into hers but kept slightly apart. Her hands instinctively sough out his silky hair. She twined her fingers through it but did not pull this time. Her fingers played through the strands as they kissed slowly with a gentle building passion.

Sam had to be aching by now, but he seemed in no hurry at all. His touch was gentle and sweet. His kisses were slow and seductive. Chloe knew that he was going slowly for her. She was struck again by how kind he was, how intrinsically a gentleman.

In return she held back nothing from him. She melted pliant into his arms. Every touch, every kiss was greeted with acceptance and unstinting return. The caring her lavished her with was returned with unequivocal adoration. They caressed each other with loving hands until bodies warmed with passion. Chloe was enjoying the slow indulgent passion, but knew that Sam was still waiting for his completion. His driving need to claim her had to be riding him still. She was ready for him.

Chloe slid her hand down his chest. Her fingers played along the definition of his six pack as they slowly traveled south. She broke off their kisses to catch and hold his eye. Watching his expression she ran her hand down further and cupped his erection through the fabric of his boxers. Sam hissed in a breath and closed his eyes. She saw his hand clenching the fabric of the covers as she gently ran her hand up and the length of him. God he so was big. Edging her fingers under the elastic of his boxers she traced her fingertips over the head of his cock. There was a trace of wetness clinging to her fingers. Sam gasped and his hips jerked once.

"God Chlo, I need you so much" Sam gasped.

Chloe closed her hand around the length of him and slowly pumped her fist. He was warm and hard and throbbing in her hand. Sam's hips stuttered up to meet her hand as it moved. His cock grew even bigger and harder as she work it. The size of it made her just a touch nervous. Intellectually she knew that everything would fit fine. But still the size was a bit daunting given her previous experience.

"You are so much bigger than,…" Chloe trailed off not wanting to spoil the moment.

"Than him?" he asked hoarsely.

"Yes" she said blushing.

"I will be so gentle with you my love. I would never hurt you. Let me show you how wonderful it can be".

"Yes. Please. Now Sam, I want you so much".

With her help Sam pulled off his boxers. Seeing him completely naked he was beyond beautiful to her. She lay back on the bed waiting for him to take her. Sam reached into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out a condom setting it on the bed beside them.

He leaned down over her and pressed his knee down between her thighs spreading her legs open. She expected him to enter her but he didn't. He leaned down and started to lick at her again.

"Mmmmm so good baby" Sam said. He slid two fingers into her to her surprise. Chloe gasped and clenched around them. God that felt good!

"Easy love, relax for me please" Sam said.

Chloe took a deep breath the let it out and relaxed. She knew that Sam knew what he was doing. Spreading her legs wider she sighed and closed her eyes. He started to slowly pump two fingers into her as he licked at her clit.

"Oh please Sam" she breathed.

Chloe's hips rose up to meet the thrust of his fingers. The feel of his fingers thrusting slowly in and out of her sex was just what her body had been aching for. He caught her clit in between his lips and started to suck on it.

"Oh God Sam!" she cried out as moisture started to flow out of her pussy again.

"That's it baby give me everything" Sam sucked on her clit again and thrust back into her with three fingers this time. God that felt good but it burned too. She whimpered very softly as her body struggled to accept the invasion. She was loving the feel as his fingers slid inside her stretching her open.

"That's it baby, take it. Spread yourself open for me and take it all". He twisted his hand slowly and spread his fingers out a bit inside her. Sam moved his hand slowly thrusting his fingers in and out of her tight pussy stretching her out more. Chloe purred and thrust her hips up to his hand wanting it badly.

"Oh please Sam, harder. I need…oh sweet… more …..Sam.. god Sam!" Chloe babbled almost incoherently but Sam understood. He started to nibble gently on her clit as his fingers started to thrust into her pussy harder. Sam let her set the pace and met her hips thrust for thrust. Chloe could feel her passion rising to a crest and moaned loudly.

"Please baby stop. I'm…. Oh God!.. . .Sam I'm…"

He didn't stop but thrust his fingers just as hard into her, keeping his penetration true to her pace. Even as she begged him to stop he continued to work at her trying to force her over the edge.

"Come for me Now Chloe. Now." Sam said then bit down on her clit and thrust faster with his fingers. Chloe couldn't help herself, she spread her legs so wide and thrust up to met his fingers and shattered again screaming out his name in pleasure as he forced her over hard.

While Chloe was still gasping for breath Sam moved over top of her. Holding her hips on one hand and propping himself up with the other he lined his cock up with her.

"Okay love, just stay relaxed for me please" Sam instructed huskily.

Chloe ran her hands up his arms and found that he was shaking slightly. "It's okay baby. I'm ready" she said to reassure him.

Chloe relaxed back onto the bed and looked up at Sam. She could tell he was struggling to be gentle. Slowly, so slowly she felt almost no discomfort Sam eased into her. Chloe hissed in a breath. She felt the stretch and burn of his possession as he entered her. Sam groaned as he slid inside her.

"Baby, you feel so good. Don't move please. Just…, stay still a moment" Sam gasped out between pants.

"Shhhh, easy now hon. Its okay, you aren't hurting me at all" Chloe said softly.

She caressed him comfortingly as her held himself so firmly in check. Brushing his hair back off his forehead she kissed him there. He eased into her gently a bit at a time. Chloe gasped as she stretched to accommodate him. He felt absolutely huge inside of her. Then finally, he was completely inside. A shudder traveled through his body.

"Mine" he said it softly, reverently. "Please be mine". Then he started to move slowly inside of her. Withdrawing a little then pushing in again just a tiny bit. The motion was too restrained to be called a thrust, but it felt good regardless.

Chloe gasped at the intense feeling of Sam making love to her. Finally after all the waiting they were together. It felt like heaven on earth to make love to him. He filled her completely in every way. Chloe wrapped her legs around his waist and felt him slide just a little deeper inside her and gasped again. Oh god that was amazing, something deep inside her flared with heat.

"Are you ready love?" he asked. Chloe simply nodded.

Sam leaned over and rested his forehead on hers and then began to thrust into her gently. "Love you so much Chloe".

"Oh god that feels so good. I could stay like this for hours" Chloe said.

"One day I will fuck you for hours sweet heart, but not tonight. I need you too bad" Sam said. He shifted his grip on her hips a bit tilting her towards him and thrust again. Chloe squeaked an embarrassing sound out her eyes flying wide open. Sam faltered to a stop.

"Don't Stop!" Chloe whined. "Please Sam. Again…. Just like that!"

A wicked grin bloomed onto his face and Sam gripped her hip tightly holding her in place. Then he started to thrust into her harder. Every time he thrust into her he hit that spot deep inside her body that made her want to squeak. Chloe gasped as all the muscles in her body started tightening up. Chloe couldn't believe how good that felt. She had no idea sex could be like this.

"More… harder" she cried out as Sam slowly increased his pace.

"Yeah fuck yeah. God baby, love how you feel around me so tight so wet. Gonna fuck you real hard now, you ready for that?" Sam groaned loudly as he started to pound into her. "Fucking mine, you are mine, only mine"!

Chloe reached up and braced her hands on the headboard to give resistance to his hard thrusts. Sam was pounding her now. She felt like she was going to burn alive from the feeling of it. Sam fucking Winchester was a god in bed.

"Oh baby, Chloe I am gonna come. Are you close?"

Chloe nodded. "Yes Sam,.. Sam!.. just .. can you a bit … oh Harder now!"

Sam pushed one of her thighs up to her chest and started pounding into her over and over. Yeah that was it. God it was so fucking perfect. Chloe wailed out a moan of pleasure. She just needed.

"Right there, hard… yes keep …go" Chloe gasped in a breath and held it as he thrust hard into her sex. Sam kept pounding into her hard over and over his arms trembling. Then he hit that spot inside her Really hard and she exploded into white hot pleasure.

"FUCK SAM!" Chloe cried out and locked down tightly around his rigid cock, pleasure shooting through her body. Sam grunted and thrust hard four more times before a shudder wracked through his body. . Chloe could feel the throbbing inside her. His whole body locked up tightly as he came deep inside her. He paused for a long moment then started thrusting into her again slower but still hard. She loved that feeling. She had a feeling she would always love him coming inside her, coming for her.

Sam faltered to a stop and then pulled gently out of her. He collapsed bonelessly beside her panting like a freight train.

"That was amazing" Sam laughed joyfully.

"You can say that again. If I had any idea sex could be like that I would have been trolling bars with my cousin every weekend" Chloe said.

Sam, well there really wasn't any other word for it, he growled.

"Easy tiger, I am a one man woman. You are all the man I could ever want, even if you are just this side of scary possessive".

"You better be sweetheart. I want us to be faithful to each other".

Chloe chuckled. "You wanna go steady?" she teased. "Do I get to wear your class ring and letter jacket"?

Sam ruffled her hair. "Such a mouth on you, no wonder you and Dean are thick as thieves".

"I for one, need a shower" Chloe declared. She leaned over and sniffed Sam. "So do you muscle man".

Sam tied off the condom and put it in the trash. "Let me check if the coast is clear" he said. He pulled on his boxers and slipped out the door.

Chloe made a mental note to empty that trash herself. Everyone was sure to know what was going on. There was knowing and then the was Knowing.

Chloe didn't remember him putting the condom on, but thank god he kept his wits about him. Clark picked up a lot of things for her, but he hadn't thought to grab her pills. Well he probably didn't know where to look. When the pack in her purse ran out she had just stopped taking them. She could see there was going to be a visit to Planned Parenthood in her future. She thought she might be able to get more there with her fake ID. As energetic as they were, the risk of tearing a condom was too high.

Sam came back and told her the coast was clear. They scampered into the bathroom like guilty children. Showering with Sam was much more fun than showering alone. He even washed her hair for her. Chloe decided not to worry about keeping her bandage dry. She peeled it off and threw it in the trash. She would just put on a clean one when they were done. She did make one observation about the man. Dang he took up a lot of shower space.

When they were clean and mostly dried off, Sam checked again before she scampered back into her room. Chloe sent him back out for clean sheets. Sam had her sit on the edge of the bed so he could put a fresh bandage on for her. Chloe had been doing this for herself. She really hoped to keep anyone from looking at it too closely for a while.

"This looks really good sweet heart. If you want I can pull some of the stitches for you tomorrow. You heal really fast".

"Yeah I think I mentioned that the day we met actually" Chloe looked at him uncomfortably. Luckily he didn't seem to think it was anything strange, just good genetics. He taped a much smaller bandage down over the wounds.

Once they had changed the bed they snuggled down into it together.

"Chloe, I want you to know that being with you makes me happy".

"I feel the same way Sam" she replied.

"Then please, stay with me sweet heart. Don't leave me again".

"I'll think about it, I promise". She said laying her head on his chest right over his heart.

It seemed natural for them to sleep tangled up with each other, even though she had always slept alone. Listening to the comforting beat of his heart, it was a matter of moments before she fell asleep.

Chloe woke up early the next morning. She smiled happily to find Sam beside her still fast asleep. Unfortunately her right arm was dead asleep and tingling like mad. She hated to risk waking him, but it was wedged between them. Shifting very slowly she managed to wiggle her arm free. She bit her lip as the arm in question came back to life with a vengeance. She really wanted to curse and beat the offending appendage on the bed, but either impulse would surely wake up Sam.

The things you do for love, Chloe thought as she fruitlessly rubbed her arm. All of a sudden a bigger warmer hand came up to rub with hers. She looked up and his eyes were closed but a smile was curved across his lips.

"Morning" Chloe said softly.

"Morning beautiful" Sam replied using Dean's nickname for her. Sam lifted her up and shifted her to his other side then took her sleeping arm in both hands and started rubbing. He cracked a single eye lid open to look down at her.

"Whooo!" Chloe laughed. "A little warning before you up end my world next time Goliath".

"Sorry" Sam said with a big yawn distorting the word to something more like 'Sowari'. Lucky for him she was fluent in Yawnese. You had to be if you lived with, 'I love the night life Lane'.

"Thanks hon, that's better" Chloe said when her arm stopped tingling.

"Good" he said and pulled her back down beside him. "Go back to sleep" he yawned.

Chloe chuckled and kissed his chest. "I'm awake handsome. I am going to go downstairs and get some studying done.

Sam pulled her up for a closed mouth kiss. "How are you feeling this morning? Are you sore?"

Chloe flushed brilliantly but answered despite her embarrassment. "Yes some. But I don't care. I loved making love with you".

"I felt like I had been waiting years for last night. As long as you aren't too sore then I am happy. Just let me know if it doesn't go away. I am sorry about that. I meant to be gentle with you. But god woman, you drive me wild".

"Good" Chloe said smugly. "I really rather like the wild man in you".

"Go get your coffee sweet heart. I will be down a bit later".

Chloe rolled out of bed and turned to look at her man. That's right he was unequivocally her man. Take that Lana Lang! She gently brushed the hair back off his face and pressed a kiss to his strong jaw line.

"mmmmm" Sam sighed.

"Go to sleep my love".

Chloe dressed quietly and slipped out of the room. She made a pit stop in the bathroom. She brushed her teeth and started to comb her hair. She stopped dead when she got a good look in the mirror.

Oh my, that was one big hickie on her neck. If she had been thinking she would have worn a t-shirt instead of a halter, even in this heat. However, her mental facilities never kicked into full gear until her third cup of coffee. She liked to wear halters. She liked showing off Echo's work. Her tattoo was lovely and she got comments on it all the time if it was visible. One rather dour Wiccan lady had given her a speech about tattooing unknown symbols on her body without knowing what they meant. Chloe shut her down quickly by very succinctly explaining the meaning, use and history of each mark she bore.

She had two options as far as she could see. She could go back in and wake up Sam, or she could go downstairs and brave a sure to be insufferable Dean. Surly she was not afraid of Dean Winchester. She had braved LAMB on his own turf. Hell yes she was afraid to face Dean. Chloe sighed and dabbed toothpaste on the hickie to make it go away faster. Yet another of Lois' bits of helpful wisdom, she missed her so much.

Chloe went downstairs and was relieved to see only Bobby. He looked at her neck and arched an eyebrow but didn't comment. Chloe flushed and hurried through into the kitchen. She was not ashamed of being with Sam. There was no reason to be embarrassed. They were consenting adults for Pete sake. Taking a deep breath she headed back into the den with her coffee cup. Bobby held out her daily book.

"'Safe sex, a guide for the modern woman'"? Chloe read the title. "Seriously Bobby".

Bobby pointed to her chair. "I pick you read, end of discussion".

Chloe rolled her eyes and cracked open her book. She already knew all of this, but if her adoptive uncle felt he needed to do his part, then who was she to deny him. It was really rather sweet in a way. Intrusive, presumptive and yet still it was totally adorably sweet. Chloe read in peace for an hour and a half. It didn't take long to get through the information. She handed to book back to him.

"Satisfied?"

Bobby just grunted and shooed her off. "Dean is in the back yard. Go bug him".

"Hey you have her back together!" Chloe smiled brilliantly.

"Whoa look at the size…."

"Say ONE more word," Chloe interrupted. "and I will make you eat Bobby's cooking for the rest of this visit".

Dean's jaw snapped shut. Chloe could almost see the cogs in his brain spinning weighing his options. "Damn" He said with a sigh. "Hit a man where it hurts why don't you"?

"My self defense instructor told me to always go for the soft spots. So you might want to guard your groin too" Chloe grinned wickedly.

"Evil woman, I can still tell Sam to run away from your evilness you know".

"Somehow, I doubt he would listen to you Chicken Little".

Dean rolled his eyes at her but gave it up as a lost cause.

"Okay, take a look at this. I have replaced all the locks on your bike with something much sturdier. You are going to need to consolidate your stuff a bit. I left your left saddle bag as is. I installed a false bottom in the right one. It couldn't be very big. You can probably hide your hand gun and a few valuables inside".

"Dean, what I am carrying with me, that's all I own in the whole world now. Minus a few items that I have stowed in my PO Box" Chloe said quietly.

"I am sure that Bobby would let you stow a few things here. If you are traveling with us, you can put most of your clothes in a duffle in the trunk of the Impala" Dean suggested.

"That makes sense. Thanks for all the work Dean. I appreciate the effort you have put into this" Dean looked uncomfortable with the gratitude and turned back to the bike.

"Sam put protective symbols on the inside of both lids" he said showing her. "Demons should not be able to see what you have inside them. Bobby and I are going to load up the right side with gear that you might need if you ever get separated from us. Did either of them teach you the blessing for holy water"?

"No not yet. I'll see if I can get one of them to show me today. I already have two exorcisms memorized" she told him.

"That will come in really handy. I'll get your bike loaded up today so you are good to go. I hope that you go with us, but if you don't be careful Beautiful. Sammy would be lost if something happened to you" Dean turned away uncomfortably.

Wow two chic flick moments in two days, which had to be a record.

"Things went well for you guys"? Dean asked.

"Everything was great Dean" Chloe leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "You aren't the only Casanova in the family".

"Ehhhew. Okay I just did not need to hear that. Go away before you melt my brain".

"Dean?" Sam yelled from the front of the house.

"With Chloe's bike!" he hollered back.

"Sam came around the edge of the house holding his right hand to his temple".

Dean must have read something in his body language that Chloe missed because he said, "We have a new case"?

"Yeah, we need to hurry too" Sam said.

"Alright lets get loaded up then" Chloe said.

"Chloe, I am going to ask you if you would stay here with Bobby, just for this one" Sam said as he rubbed his temple.

"Headache?"

Sam nodded.

"I told you that I would think about it. You asked me not to leave you again, and now you are the one asking me to stay" she said. "Sam your behavior really worries me. What is so scary that you are keeping me away"?

"This isn't going to be a normal case Chloe. It involves the Demon that killed Jessica and our mom. I don't want you anywhere near him. I hope to god he never even knows that you exist" Sam said urgently.

"Normally there is no where else I would want you than right by my side. This time I just want you safe. More than anything in the world I want you to be safe. Please stay here safe with Bobby until you hear from me. Either we will head back here, or you can meet up with us on our next case".

Chloe could see in his eyes that this was very important to him. He felt strongly about what he was asking of her. Chloe had a bad feeling about this Demon Sam was talking about. She hoped that they didn't actually meet up with him.

"Surely it would be better if we all stuck together. I could watch your backs" Chloe pointed out.

"I am siding with Sammy on this one Princess. You are staying here" Dean said definitively.

Chloe tossed up her hands in defeat.

"Alright if you insist I will stay. Please be careful, both of you".

Less than an hour later she watched them pull out of the driveway. She couldn't help but worry as she walked back into Bobby's house. Neither of them would be far from her mind until they were together again.

The End

Book 3 – Coming soon


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